As the world’s largest meal kit company, we recognize the important contribution we can and must make in driving sustainable progress on environmental and social issues. While sustainability has always been an integral part of our mission to change the way people eat, we are committed to further decrease our impact on the environment and offer our customers not only delicious, but also sustainable food solutions.

With the publication of our 2022 non-financial report HelloFresh announced its commitment to set near-term company-wide CO2e emission reductions targets in line with climate science with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

What are science-based targets and the initiative behind them?

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science. It is focused on accelerating companies across the world to halve emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions before 2050. 

The initiative is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business Coalition commitments. The SBTi defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting, offers resources and guidance to reduce barriers to adoption, and independently assesses and approves companies’ targets. 

Science-based targets provide a clearly-defined pathway for companies and financial institutions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, helping prevent the worst impacts of climate change and future-proofing business growth. Targets are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This commitment marks an important milestone for HelloFresh:

“I’m very proud we kicked-off this process and I’m excited about working together with the Science Based Targets initiatives to develop the detailed roadmap which will allow us to significantly reduce HelloFresh’s carbon emissions. This commitment is a crucial action for HelloFresh to take action to limit global warming,” said Tilman Eichstädt, COO Upstream at HelloFresh SE. 

HelloFresh’s science-based targets will be set by 2024

Announcing our commitment to the targets is step one in the process. Now that the SBTi officially accepted HelloFresh’s commitment, the HelloFresh Sustainability Team will work on an emissions reduction target in line with the SBTi’s criteria within the two-year time frame allocated to this process. 

In the interim we will continue to work towards our own targets on food waste and carbon emissions in order to continue to make progress. Science-based targets require an end-to-end quantification of GHG emissions from dirt to doorstep, which is a daunting effort. Our sustainability team has laid the groundwork over the last few years to enable us to take this next step. 

“Thanks to our recently conducted full Life Cycle Assessment we already know how many emissions are caused by the individual steps of our products’ journey. As of today we are already doing a lot to reduce and avoid emissions, but we are convinced that a holistic approach is necessary to have a meaningful impact and drive our progress here,” Tilman Eichstädt adds. 

We expect to be able to communicate detailed targets and processes related to them in Q3 2024. 

With its commitment HelloFresh will continue to work closely together with its suppliers and source locally, where possible, which keeps carbon footprint to a minimum. 

We also are looking for innovative ways to work upstream with our suppliers to create better environmental impacts across the food system at large. To this end we hosted HelloFresh’s first Regenerative Agriculture Summit on Friday the 17th of February 2023. The key aim of this summit was to mutually upskill the understanding of HelloFresh staff, suppliers and other key external stakeholders on the opportunities Regenerative Agricultural practices provide to both minimize the environmental impact of the food system and to de-risk supply chains from disruptions caused by the ongoing impacts of global warming. 

Learn more about our sustainability updates in our 2022 non-financial report.