Meal kit company HelloFresh is doing well even amid the pandemic with sales almost doubling, according to a release to investors.
The Germany-based company has increased its expectation for growth to between 75 percent and 90 percent, raising it from the previous estimate of around 55 percent to 70 percent. And the company's full-year AEBITDA growth is now projected to be around 9 percent to 11 percent, slightly higher than the 8 percent to 10 percent from before, the release stated.
The new numbers come from growth even in the second quarter of 2020, HelloFresh said in the release. In May, the company reported a 66.4 percent year-over-year growth in revenue. That included U.S. revenues boosting 82.3 percent.
The pandemic has seen a boost in companies offering such meal kits, with the closures of restaurants and the en-masse shift to digital food ordering.
Americans, looking for ways to learn to cook quickly, turned to meal kit companies like Blue Apron or HelloFresh, causing the demand for those products to surge, and restaurants pounced as a way to garner revenue during the financial crunch. Firms like Shake Shack, Waffle House and California Pizza Kitchen began to use meal kit services to offer ways to prepare their brands.
Then there were even more diverse options such as the initiative from Impossible Foods to make plant-based burgers, including adjusting orders for individual protein-based diets.
The industry, which looked to be lagging last year, suddenly found itself with a new burst of life, which PYMNTS contends might not be a lasting affair. The field of companies working in meal kits is getting large, but it's an unknown as to whether or not consumers will keep buying them once they no longer have reservations about going out to eat again.
HelloFresh went public in 2017, and its website says it offers wide options in budget, taste and dietary needs.
