At HelloFresh Group, our commitment to keeping food fresh, safe, and trusted goes beyond process; it’s a mindset we live every day. This World Food Safety Day 2025, we’re proud to reflect on the science, systems, and people behind our global food safety efforts.
The initiatives outlined below reflect our unwavering commitment to deliver meals that are not only fresh and delicious but also backed by rigorous safety standards, ethical practices, and a culture of continuous improvement.

Our fulfilment centres live up to the highest food safety standards

With teams operating across 17 countries (excluding the US, which operates a separate team) and three continents, HelloFresh’s Food Safety & Quality Assurance (FSQA) team has placed renewed focus on codifying standards, professionalising processes, and scaling best practices across all markets and fulfilment sites. This effort ensures that our facilities consistently meet stringent food safety expectations, verified through independent external certifications.

In our pursuit of excellence, we've collaborated closely with esteemed partners LRQA and TÜV to establish BRCGS Storage & Distribution certification standards, a globally recognised benchmark for food safety and operational excellence, across four additional Distribution Centres (DCs) and logistics hubs. This ensures that our facilities consistently operate at the pinnacle of excellence, reinforcing our commitment to food safety and to maintaining the highest global standards in every location we serve.

To make sure that the BRCGS standards are always upheld, we conduct regular audits at our sites. In 2024, we celebrated achieving AA+ and AA scores, the highest attainable rating for BRCGS DC audits, in nine out of the ten distribution centres subjected to certification audits and nine logistics hubs. To bolster our sites' readiness for external audits and nurture an audit-ready culture, we've revamped our DC Compliance audit program in 2024, adopting a hybrid unannounced framework, combining announced and unannounced elements, in collaboration with the BSI Group. This approach keeps teams continuously prepared and ensures our operations meet the highest standards every day, not just during scheduled checks. As we progress, we're transitioning towards unannounced audits for all sites undergoing their third BRCGS certification audit.

Promoting fair and safe labour conditions

In line with our Ethical Trading Strategy, we’ve identified key human rights areas where we have the greatest opportunity to intensify our efforts and drive meaningful change in our own operations and supply chain, guided by a robust ethical risk assessment. On this basis, we’re intensifying our preventive actions: further SEDEX onboarding, SMETA (SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audits) audits with our high-risk suppliers and Supplier Human Rights Training. We’re also taking commodity-specific actions to promote fair labour practices, safe working conditions, and respect for human rights for everyone contributing to our business.

Mitigating Risks: A Peek into our Berlin Quality Lab

At our Fresh Campus in Berlin,  the Quality Lab team is committed to safeguarding the safety and quality of our meal kit ingredients and other products. We carefully monitor Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs), such as pH and moisture content, and core cooking temperature, to prevent bacterial and mould contamination. Our product evaluation process is driven by a comprehensive dynamic risk assessment that also takes potential food safety issues into account. By proactively identifying and managing these risks, we ensure customer safety. We also collaborate closely with our trusted suppliers, implementing corrective actions to minimise errors and continuously improve product quality.

Strengthening our Quality and Safety Culture 

This year, we celebrated a major milestone with the expansion of our Quality & Safety Culture Program, developed in partnership with Culture Excellence. Now in its second year, the program has empowered thousands of team members across our Distribution Centres to share anonymous feedback on key areas such as people, process, purpose, and proactivity, especially around Food Safety and Health & Safety. Based on the survey feedback, we took targeted actions leading to immediate improvements in employees’ perception of safety and quality.  Guided by employee insights, we’re prioritising awareness through shared learning, open feedback, and learning from incidents, alongside rewards and recognition, and openness and transparency initiatives. We’re proud to see that this culture shift is reflected not only in how our teams engage with safety and quality but also in our strong food safety audit results across the majority of our sites, proving that a strong internal culture drives world-class performance.

Training also remains a pillar of our approach. Through our Food Academy, developed with Campden BRI, a globally respected food science and research institute, we deliver tailored, science-led courses that build frontline capability in risk prevention, microbiological safety, and quality management.

To celebrate World Food Safety Day, our DCs will lead local engagement initiatives throughout the week. Stay tuned as we continue driving a culture of safety, learning, and excellence.