Quick News Roundup

  • HelloFresh has increased its cold-chain fulfillment SKU capacity from 100 to 500, a fivefold increase, by expanding its partnership with Locus Robotics. This news comes from a press release published last week.Press Release。
  • HelloFresh first piloted 13 Locus Origin robots at its Factor brand facility in July 2025. According to the press release, these robots averaged 3 minutes and 36 seconds to complete fulfillment tasks from order induction to tote drop-off. Within three months, HelloFresh added 26 more robots, expanding the deployment.
  • The expanded SKU capacity offers HelloFresh customers more meal choices and unlocks new revenue opportunities for the meal-kit company. HelloFresh plans to extend Locus Robotics' fulfillment support to its EveryPlate brand later this year.

Deep Dive

HelloFresh's fulfillment model is demanding, combining high order volumes, high product variety, and temperature-controlled requirements, said Jasmine Lombardi, Chief Customer Officer at Locus Robotics, in the press release.

Robots fulfilling orders in refrigerated environments may experience decreased battery efficiency over time due to low temperatures. To address this, Locus developed heated motor enhancements and charging improvements to ensure its Origin robots operate reliably in cold storage conditions. According to the company'sProduct Specification Sheet, these robots are designed for high-throughput order fulfillment and support collaborative picking of fast-moving items with humans in the aisles.

"The deployment process was very smooth, with most testing completed virtually before go-live," said Brad Mesloh, Associate Director of Strategic Design at HelloFresh, in the press release. "Once the robots went live, final validation took only days, making the deployment faster and simpler than our legacy systems."

According to the press release, Locus Robotics currently supports approximately 12,000 square feet of HelloFresh's cold-chain fulfillment space, including two meal-kit picking lines. In certain stages, robots transport orders directly from the induction area to the drop-off area to accelerate product flow. A Locus Robotics spokesperson confirmed via email to sister publication Supply Chain Dive that these robots are deployed at HelloFresh's cold-chain fulfillment facility in Phoenix.

This expanded deployment comes as HelloFresh continues to improve operational efficiency. In the company's Q1 earnings call in May, CFO Fabien Simon said that fulfillment costs as a percentage of revenue improved by 0.8 percentage points year-over-year, excluding impairments and stock-based compensation.

"This is a direct result of embedding network optimization and productivity improvements into our operating model," Simon said.