IAFP Names HelloFresh as Recipient of the Prestigious Black Pearl Award

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Des Moines, Iowa - The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) selected HelloFresh as the 2022 recipient of the prestigious Black Pearl Award. Sponsored by F&H Food Equipment Company, the Black Pearl Award will be presented at IAFP’s Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This honor is given annually to one company for its efforts in advancing food safety and quality through consumer programs, employee relations, educational activities, adherence to standards, and support of the goals and objectives of IAFP.

HelloFresh was founded in 2011 in Berlin as a small startup and has since grown to be the largest meal-kit provider in the world today. It currently serves 227 million meals to more than 6.94 million customers worldwide across 16 different countries (based on the Q3 2021 HelloFresh Group earnings report). The HelloFresh mission is to change the way people eat forever. Central to that mission is ensuring that the HelloFresh teams and partners follow the strictest protocols every day so that each meal kit delivered to its customers is safe, consistent, and delicious. The company strives to serve safe, quality, and nutritious food to its customers in a fun and innovative way. With direct access to so many customers, HelloFresh recognizes the immense responsibility it has on food safety and quality for consumers and prioritizes food safety across its operations. Due to the pandemic’s effects on the supply chain, the importance of what HelloFresh does has never been more clear, with the realization that many of its customers depend on the company for not only safe, quality, nutritious meals but also as a way to stay safe during the pandemic by not having to enter the grocery store to shop for food. A wide variety of meals and grocery items can be selected online by customers with all the nutrition facts, food safety cooking instructions, allergy information, and meal preparation times at their fingertips to be delivered right to their door.

HelloFresh’s journey into the food industry started by focusing on its five core values of speed and agility, relentless prioritization, egoless environment, data-drivenness, and learning never stops. These values are incorporated into each and every department of the organization, continually helping set the standard for safety in this industry.

In 2016, HelloFresh realized there was no set standard of food safety or quality for the relatively nascent food kit industry and the companies within this category. This led to the creation of the HelloFresh food safety department, which was established with the objective of validating the current process while setting goals and standards for the future of FSQA in the meal industry. From procurement to production and distribution, HelloFresh’s FSQA teams establish a culture of food safety and quality excellence across all of its markets, led by experienced managers with multiple years of functional expertise.

HelloFresh takes pride in its partnerships with the U.S. FDA, Partnership for Food Safety, Ecolab, International Produce Training, Cornell University, and others to always seek the best practice for the company and for its customers.