HelloFresh: Will Meal Kit Home Deliveries Still Thrive Post-COVID?

This case study examines HelloFresh, an online meal kit delivery service, focusing on its challenges and opportunities in the post-COVID-19 landscape. The report analyzes HelloFresh's business model, market position, and the impact of the pandemic on its sales and customer retention. It identifies key problems such as customer retention, market share growth, and the influence of factors like dietary needs and competitor discounts. The analysis delves into strategic management, financial performance, and marketing strategies, employing theories like the marketing mix and strategic theory. The case study proposes solutions to these problems, including strategies for improving customer loyalty, expanding market share, and adapting to changing consumer behavior. The findings highlight the importance of strategic adaptation, financial management, and effective marketing in ensuring HelloFresh's continued success in the competitive meal kit industry. The report provides a comprehensive overview of HelloFresh's situation, analysis, and proposed solutions, offering valuable insights into the company's performance and future prospects.

CASE STUDY- HELLOFRESH: WILL MEAL
KIT HOME
DELIVERIES STILL BE HOT
POST-COVID-19?

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................3
Description of the Situation ........................................................................................................3
Problem Statement, Plan of analysis ..........................................................................................4
Analysis & Findings......................................................................................................................7
Proposed Solution to Problem (Approx. 600words)....................................................................9
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................................11

Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to carry out situation of Hello Fresh and analyse
problems faced by them with describing the plan of analysis. The objective of analysis is to
discuss the issues faced by company and how the company raised the position to target
market. The purpose of this is to provide the solution to the overall problems faced by the
company during the pandemic as well as growth factors on increasing the sales more
effectively. It highlights the strategies and theories which company may follow for better
outcomes. The best fit solutions to the problems are also provided in the ways of suggestive
methods.
INTRODUCTION
The problems that can be identified from the case study of Hello Fresh are retaining the
customers and building the market share. There are several factors that created challenges
for the organization such as retaining their existing customers in the company in order to
increase the profitability of the business. The another concern for the business as building a
significant market share in the industry and improving its overall success. This problem is
one of the major reasons of the inefficiency of the organization to produce the desired
results and gain benefit in the industry. The Covid-19 has been beneficial for the
organization as it has had a major impact on the sales of the organization.
The main aim of this report is to explain the various issues and challenges that are
faced by the organization and complete analysis of how the company has achieved success
by improving their current performance in the industry. It will provide a detailed analysis of
the benefit that has been achieved by the business post Covid-19 pandemic.
The report will explain a brief description of the situation, problem statement and a
plan of analysis, analysis & findings, proposed solutions to the problem (Al Imam and et.al.,
2021).
Description of the Situation
Hello Fresh is an online grocery start-up which is providing its products and services in the
form of meal kits to the customers (Widyastuti and et.al., 2020). It aims at providing the fresh and
organically made food products to the customers at their home. It is one of the most popular meal
kit companies in the world and have expanded into several countries for increasing its overall market
share and gaining benefit in the competitive environment. The organization has a hierarchical
structure which explains that the work is done in a systematic way in the company at different levels
of hierarchy (Wichmann and et.al., 2021). It explains the management focus on organizing their
work appropriately by defining the policies and procedures at different levels. The mission of the
organization is to provide the customers with meal kits with delicious recipes and different flavours

in order to provide a better experience to them at their home (Bauer, 2020). The financial position of
the business has improved after the pandemic as the customers have started giving preference to
staying at their home and ordering things online. This trend has been beneficial for the company in
order to improve their previous position and gain better recognition in the industry. The organization
focused upon its marketing strategy and took the help of several social media influencers for
promoting the brand name in the market effectively. It has been useful for the business to increase
the engagement of the customers towards the products and services that are offered by the
business. The organization was able to reduce its marketing costs due to these aspects as after its
popularity the customers started getting used to the company. The customers who are conscious of
their health and safety and regularly order products from different websites are identified by the
business. These customers are then targeted in order for improving the productivity of the
organization and increasing its efficiency in providing better services to them (Sukharev, 2020).
Problem Statement, Plan of analysis
Hello fresh faced issues in improving their sales and managing as this service was not popular before
the pandemic (Wu and Li, 2018). Customers used to find it convenient to buy the ingredients
personally before the lock-down situation which had a negative impact on the sales of the company.
The organization faced challenges in order to manage retain their customers which had a negative
impact on the profitability of the business. It was difficult for the business to achieve a significant
market share on the industry due to these aspects which had a negative impact on its sustainability
(Bogers and et.al., 2019). Due to this issue the business was unable to grow in the industry and
increase its customers in the market. The special dietary needs and the packaging were the major
factors due to which the customers were discontinuing from their subscriptions from the
organization. The several discount offers provided by other meal kit suppliers had a negative impact
on the loyalty of the customers towards the business. The retention rate of the company was very
low, and they management had to give due consideration to these aspects for maintaining the
productivity of the company. The management required preparing effective strategies by analysing
the market situation in order to make effective changes in their current approach and increase the
profitability of the business (Thabit and Raewf, 2018).
There are different areas which are related with the several issues that are specified
above in the problems. The areas such as appropriate management of the strategic
development of the organization (Runting and et.al., 2018). The organization may have to
make several changes in their business strategy in order to improve their current
performances and have a better competitive advantage in the business. There are several
issues that have arisen in the strategic management of the business and has a negative
impact on the sustainability of the company. It is suitable for the organization to manage
the different elements of the finance department as it has the profits of the company have
experienced a reduction which may have a negative impact on the sustainability of the
company (Fuertes and et.al., 2020).
For Table below can serve as example:

S/N Functional Area of Study The
Problem/Issue
The Theory to Use
1 Strategic management The strategy for
promoting the
products to the
customers is weak
and has a negative
impact on the
business. It may
have a positive
impact on the
business and may
help in increasing
the overall
sustainability of
the company in
the environment
(Zilincik Myklin
and Kovanda,
2019).
The strategic theory is
used in order to
understand the crucial
elements of the
business environment
and make effective
changes in the current
strategy.
2 Finance The organization
has find difficulties
to increase their
profits and
manage their
overall
sustainability in
the industry.
The modern portfolio
theory will be used to
deeply understand the
different factors which
are important in the
financial function of
the business.
3 Marketing The marketing
strategy is crucial to
be evaluated by the
business in order to
increase the
engagement if the
customers towards
the brand and
provide them with
better value (Jain,
Sharma, and
Gupta, 2022).
The marketing mix
theory is suggested to
be used by the
business in order to
increase the interest
of the customers
towards the products
and services of the
organization.
According to Guardiola Ramírez (2019), The strategic theory is an effective framework which
explains the different aspects related to preparing effective strategies and improving the current
performance of any business. This is useful for the business to gain a better competitive advantage

by analysing their current strategy and applying different changes in their approach towards the
business. These aspects of this strategy are useful in order to improve the overall success of the
business and gain a better market share in the industry. There are different aspects of the business
which are helpful for the organization to improve their services and gain competitive advantage in
the industry. These practices of the organization are useful or the business in order to grow and
improve their overall profitability. The strategic management is a system of ideas which is intended
to explain different principles and ideas that are helpful in the overall management of the business.
According to Keding (2021), It is useful for the business to organize their financial records
and make the effective use of various tools and techniques that are available to them. These
practices can be useful for improving the stability of the organization and may be helpful in
gaining a better competitive advantage in the industry. The modern portfolio theory is a
practical method to manage the different challenges that are faced by the organization in
their business. It is useful in order to improve the overall stability of the organization. This
helps the business to manage their investments appropriately and reduce the risks that may
frequently arise for the company. It provides better assistance to the organization in order
to manage their crucial information. It helps in improving the portfolio of the business in
order to acquire better funding from the investors (Maier-Paape and Zhu, 2018).
By Mansuri (2020), the marketing is a useful concept for the organization for targeting their
potential customers effectively. This theory is useful for the management to bring effective
changes in their approach and increasing their competitive advantage. By successfully
applying the different elements of the marketing mix, the business may be able to develop
better practices and improve the market image of the brand in the industry. With the help
of different techniques such as the influencer marketing and social media marketing the
organization may improve their popularity in the industry. It may have a positive impact on
the sales of the business and may help in reducing the pressure from the management to
produce the optimum output. It may help in promoting a better image among the
customers and improve the stability of the organization in the market. There are several
components of the marketing mix such as product, place, price, promotion etc. which may
help the business to make appropriate strategies on the basis of different aspects of the
Hello Fresh (Kalogiannidis and Mavratzas, 2020).
Analysis & Findings
The problems that are identified by the business is the inability of the management to retain
their customers. The company has faced various issues in managing their customer needs
appropriately which has a negative impact on their overall sustainability. There are certain
changes that are to be made by the business in their current approach which is to evaluated
by the organization with the help of different strategic management theories and principles.
These theories have a positive impact on the company and are helpful in reducing the
affects of the various challenges that are consistently faced by the business (Marisda and
Ma’Ruf, 2021).
The organization may monitor their performance with the help of different aspects of the
strategic management concepts. There are different aspects of the business that are
evaluated by the business in order to develop better practices and increase the
sustainability of the company in the market. The systematic approach of the strategic

management their will provide better ideas to the managers in order to manage their work
properly. The various issues such as the effective management of the human resource and
the appropriate allocation of different functions of the business. It is useful for the company
to manage their services areas effectively with the help of these theories (Kareh, 2018).
The different issues in the financial management of the business may reduce the ability of
the company to achieve better success in the business environment (Mika and et.al., 2021).
These services are useful for the organization for improving their overall productivity and
increasing their chances of achieving growth in the business. The modern portfolio theories
may contain several principles that may be followed b the company in order to increase the
overall sustainability of the company. These aspects of the business are crucial for the
company to focus and develop their framework for increasing the efficiency of the output
and having a positive impact on the sustainability of the business. The management of
different records, statements and other financial information is mandatory for the company
to evaluate and improve the overall sustainability to business. Whereas in the modern
world the company is following the unique strategy which gain the customers. After the
pandemic it has raised with their sales to the target audience. The better and useful ideas
lift up the business aspects and better funding will be available for the business to grow
(Rabetino, Kohtamäki and Federico, 2021).
While dealing with the negative result with de-growth in the market, following marketing
strategies are beneficial for business to grow further and get better outcomes. The use of
technology such as social media and digital media marketing effectively supports the
business to advertise -on the higher basis to pro,mote the products into the target markets.
Following the marketing mix concept organization can make improvements in the target
sectors where there four aspects are important (Stolberg, 2019). Product the functioning
can be increase and company can implement the new ideas to market. The unique idea of
Hello Fresh is providing the meal kit where it was easy to handle before crisis, but placing in
the useful method. Peoples concerns are changes after the pandemic, and they prefer to
choose the best hygiene safety measures for them. The company look for better hygiene
purpose to solve the issue and reach to more audience to form the brand image and adding
value to it. Pricing plays key role in the marketing as it denotes the consumer attraction
towards buying the particular product (De Schrijver and et.al., 2020). The price should be in
favourable terms so it can be easily affordable by each and every person who can take the
benefit of this. Pricing should be set as in the favour of providing offers and after product
delivering services which can make the co consumer more satisfaction in indulgent terms for
the organization.
There are several competitors in marketplace who may provide the product and implement
their ideas to get to the existing place. But the competitive price with better quality of
product and service will surely get the target audience. Whereas Placing is important for
carrying out the innovative ideas to various kind of markets as it enhance the chain of more
increased customers. Hello Fresh started to use this process in 2011 and take over to the
several countries which is positive outcome (Zeinstra and van der Haar, 2020). Further,
placing products to existing countries, it is mandatory to focus more on weaken point and
execute the sales in particular area. Several branches in the countries as well as providing

door to door service would be effective for customer as well as company profits. This idea
will boost up the more sales in the markets and increase the overall working capability so
further it would be easy for business to deal with such situations. Promotion is based on
how the business reach to its audience in the ways of conducting advertising, branding,
labelling etc. the use of promotion is useful for HELLOFRESH to get the attraction of
customers towards them.
By using the technology and promoting the product idea by social media would be
effectively work and new consumers will engage in buying the product. Advertising is
necessary to discuss the product to audience across the world. The more amount of people
will interact with one another and make suggestions with each other in buying the company
products (Barney and Mackey, 2018).
Proposed Solution to Problem (Approx. 600words)
 Based on the problems and issues you identified and analysed, generate ideas or
alternative solutions to the problems and issues.
The problems were faced by organization of low sales before the pandemic after the
pandemic people started taking step towards the products but there are several aspects
which needs to be cured for better outcome and retaining more customers (Caliskan, 2019).
The marketing mix is the positive aspect which should be used favourably to increase the
market size and share of the company. Moreover, after the pandemic there are positive
result which company has analysed but the profitability is in lower terms. With the pricing
strt6agey and implementing new ideas to their target market leads to enhance their stability
as well as the profitability. It was difficult to maintain sustainability and in the markets for
the business to achieve a important market share on the industry due to such aspects it had
a negative outcome for their sustainability. Because of this some issues appear and
business was unable to grow in the industry and increase its customers in the marketplace.
Most of the customer found out the poor packaging of the daily needs products which
reflect negatively (Castro and et.al., 2022). To work in more favourable terms business
should consider there weakness and increase their quality of service to customers, so it will
be helpful to retain the customers with good value in the market for maintaining the
productivity of the company. By the time new ideas and changes should be considered to
deal with the further market circumstances . As technology is taking place in market,
company should follow their use of technology in several forms so that it will be easy to
maintain their potential. While delivering door to door facility, changes with technology can
be implemented so it will easy maintain the service sector as well (Dimmock, Wang and
Yang, 2019).
 Choose or suggest a “best fit” solution from any options you might have offered
The effective solution to this approach is company is managing their financial records and
enhancing the stability as well the market share. They have faced several issues by the time

of pandemic and after the crisis there were many difficulties to move out the business
(Fabozzi and Fabozzi, 2020). It is necessary to consider the various tools and techniques
which is provided to them and make use of them to increase the value. It is important for
organization to gain more profits rather than dealing with losses. By the time of pandemic
where people started to make use of their product was the favourable for them and it
provides the opportunity to grow further with maintaining their quality. The several
financial terms should be taken into consideration to carry out the value. The different kind
of issues in financial management reduces the performance of organization in achieving
better success into the business environment.
With considering the customers wants it is also necessary to evaluate the business process
in the current position so it can be beneficial to make sudden changes and overall stability
will be improved (Galliers, Leidner and Simeonova, 2020). For working in more favourable
terms business must consider the weakness and enhance the service quality to customers.
There can be competitor in markets which cause threat for business to grow it is important
term in which company should focus. It would be supportive for retaining customers with
better value in the market for managing the productivity of the company.
b. Recommendations
 Explain the limitations of the study and provide an action plan of addressing the
limitations or scope for further research.
The scope of the business is based on the several aspect in which it brings out the
changes by following the marketing strategies, use of technology. Whereas
enhancing the service to the customer in favourable terms as well as providing them
offers and discounts as compare to different food product markets. Whereas they
should make the specific identification over the competitors who can form their own
ideas to introduce the similar products. Company should up come with ideas and
innovations so the change ion process will continue further and improve the
efficiency and productivity in the working procedure.
CONCLUSION
According to the above report it has been concluded that the organization has been
able to gain benefit by applying various theories which are helpful in order to reduce the
negative impact of various challenges. The company has been able to see effective changes
in their popularity after the Covid-19 pandemic. The business has been able to maximize
their profits with the help of different theories and principles. There are several challenges
which have been managed by the business with the help of the different aspects of these
theories.

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