Boxes of produce fly out the door at a food distribution centre in Sydney’s west, with a conveyer belt whisking away packed meal kits in a high-tech warehouse.<\/p>\n
The meal kits typically include portioned ingredients such as fresh vegetables, meat, sauces, spices and a recipe card with step-by-step instructions.<\/p>\n
HelloFresh was one of the first entrants into the Australian meal kit market, now estimated to be worth more than $1 billion a year, with new brands continuing to enter the competitive space.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Tom Rutledge said the company’s new distribution centre opened in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We handle 250 tonnes of fruit and veg every week through this facility,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We get that from a network of suppliers.”<\/p>\n
New market opportunities for farmers<\/p>\n
The rising popularity of meal kits in Australia has created new opportunities for farmers to bypass traditional supply chains and sell their produce directly to those companies.<\/p>\n
Bundaberg-based farming operation Sunripe has diversified its business by growing tomatoes, capsicums and zucchinis for HelloFresh.<\/p>\n
Director Luke De Paoli said prices were locked in for 12 months at a time, in contrast to the more common week-to-week negotiations.<\/p>\n
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Sunripe director Luke De Paoli says fixed pricing helps with long-term planning. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n
“Having a set price allows us to budget for what we need to grow,” Mr De Paoli said.<\/p>\n
“We get an eight-week forecast on volume, so we can adjust what we’re doing elsewhere to make sure we’ve got the volume for HelloFresh.”<\/p>\n
Tomatoes have recently been in short supply across Australia<\/a>, reaching as high as $100 a box, the highest price since Cyclone Debbie hit in 2017, according to Mr De Paoli.<\/p>\n But Sunripe has no regrets about its fixed price arrangements and is more interested in the long game and setting up long-term relationships.<\/p>\n Sunripe processes almost 450,000 punnets of snacking tomatoes each week. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n “When we’re fixed pricing, we’re making money all the time. It’s not up and down, you’ve got the security,” Mr De Paoli said.<\/p>\n Mr Rutledge established HelloFresh in Australia in 2012 and said the connections built with growers have been “hugely important”.<\/p>\n Tom Rutledge was approached by the German-based brand to launch the service in Australia. (ABC Landline: Laurence Curson)<\/p>\n “To make sure we’re getting sufficient volumes, we want to have long-standing relationships with our suppliers, so they understand what our needs are and are able to supply us in time with the right, quality ingredients,” Mr Rutledge said.<\/p>\n He said the business model, which included extensive planning and seasonal menus, allowed them to accept more varied specifications from producers.<\/p>\n Each week, 250 tonnes of fruit and vegetables make their way into the company’s meal kits. (ABC Landline)<\/p>\n “We can take a different spec to what is required by supermarkets because we know the intended use of those items [in recipes],” he said.<\/p>\n “Essentially, every carrot in our supply chain has someone’s name on it and an intended use. And with that, we’re able to ensure freshness [and] really reduce waste.”<\/p>\n This gives Sunripe more flexibility when fulfilling orders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr De Paoli said it meant his customers \u2014 which also include major retailers and food service suppliers \u2014 were less likely to be competing for produce with the same specifications.<\/p>\n Jason Gatt (left), Samara and Luke De Paoli at one of Sunripe’s 25 farms in the Bundaberg region. (ABC Landline: Cameron Lang)<\/p>\n “If it’s a capsicum they [HelloFresh] will take a half-red, half-green one [at the] mid-ripening stage,” he said.<\/p>\n The rise of ready-made meal services<\/p>\n Ready-made meal offerings are also growing in Australia, both in supermarkets and via home delivery.<\/p>\n Options are vast and include calorie-controlled, high-protein and vegan meals.<\/p>\n The Dinner Ladies production line in south-east Sydney makes more than 40,000 meals every week.\u00a0 (ABC Landline: Courtney Wilson)<\/p>\n The Dinner Ladies is a Sydney-based food service that specialises in “home-style” cooking at scale.<\/p>\n One of its key target markets is young families and the home-delivered meals are particularly popular with new mothers.<\/p>\n The Dinner Ladies CEO Brad Rom said their kitchens produced more than 40,000 frozen meals each week, with plans to double that in coming years.<\/p>\n “We have quite a large meal range\u2026 with quite a large amount of complexity,” Mr Rom said. Brad Rom plans to double the company’s output over the next few years.\u00a0 (ABC Landline: Laurence Curson)<\/p>\n He said the COVID-19 pandemic had changed many people’s opinions and created positive perceptions about home deliveries.<\/p>\n “Our customers who are busy, who are time poor and who like good quality food are prepared to pay for a service such as ours,” he said.<\/p>\n Bypassing traditional supply chains<\/p>\n Mr Rom said when dealing with direct suppliers it was important to have similar values.<\/p>\n “It’s also really important to our customers. We get questioned quite a lot about where our ingredients come from,” he said.<\/p>\n Farmer Luke Winder owns Tathra Place Free Range and supplies free-range ducks to The Dinner Ladies.<\/p>\n Free-range duck farmer Luke Winder says he benefits from the regular orders. (ABC Landline: Laurence Curson)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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