Meal kit service HelloFresh is buying Chicago-area Factor75, a meal delivery startup, for approximately $277 million. The sale is expected to close in the next several months.
Based in Germany, HelloFresh operates in 14 countries and is the largest meal kit provider in the United States. The company has been looking to diversify and expand into prepared meals.
“Direct-to-consumer, ready-to-eat meals are a nascent food vertical that we believe has the potential to grow into a multi-billion dollar category over time,” HelloFresh US CEO Uwe Voss said. “With Factor, HelloFresh, EveryPlate and Green Chef, we have four high-growth food brands in our group, all benefiting from our strong growth engine, technology and supply chain infrastructure,”
HelloFresh will gain its first office in the Chicago metropolitan area, along with four production and fulfillment facilities. A new facility, which will be launched in the near future, will provide the capacity to deliver more than $500 million worth of prepared meals annually. Factor’s full year revenue for 2020 is expected to reach around $100 million.
“Since our founding, Factor has been at the intersection of taste, health, and convenience, providing simple, clean eating that not only tastes great but fuels consumers’ active and busy lifestyles,” Factor CEO Mike Apostal said. “By joining HelloFresh, Factor will leverage new resources and category expertise to accelerate our growth, enhance our brand positioning and further amplify our mission.”
