An idea and practice that we encountered during the research for the “Let’s Talk Climate” seminar during this course was the idea of food sustainability in Germany, and in turn energy conservation. More specifically, we were able to focus on the company HelloFresh. This company, now worldwide, was first created in Germany on October 4, 2011, by Jessica Nilsson Schultz, Thomas W. Griesel, and Dominik S. Richter. They have their main headquarters in Berlin; however, they also have locations around the world, including in the US.  

When this idea was first created, the practice was specific to Germany. This is because few other countries were as focused and invested in sustainability. The founders of HelloFresh were aiming to create a food delivery company that would adhere to these cultural norms of caring for the climate through food sustainability and energy conservation. The company was built with a sustainability team that had four main goals. These were to have “science-based decision making, authentic leadership, compassion-driven problem solving, and transparent communication.”  

With the overall delivery service, packaging, and obtaining the food, the company is able to reduce the consumer’s carbon footprint, as well as being carbon neutral. They obtain this by investing in a large amount of carbon offsets, as well as using renewable energy – wind energy — in their factories and other buildings. They are also able to accomplish this by having a reduced supply chain than grocery stores have. This is because they use local sources for the food they ship. In addition, they also minimize shipping materials and waste by limiting the boxes they ship. The food is also portioned into specific serving sizes so there is less wasted by the consumer.  

In the last 12 years, this company has been able to spread German ideas worldwide, specifically to the US. It has been successful in many aspects as the American market has been able to order the food right to their doorstep, meaning they can continue with their schedule without having to worry about going to the grocery store or figuring out what to cook. And they also have been able to embrace the overall sustainability aspect. This is because a large amount of the youth of America has become more concerned about their carbon footprint and protecting the Earth. And with this growing concern, the backbone of the company has been able to successfully adapt to American culture.

Source:

https://www.hellofresh.com/about/sustainability/reduce-your-carbon-footprint

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