Dive Brief:

• HelloFresh on Thursday reported a surge in adjusted EBITDA during the second quarter of 2023 even as the German meal kit company posted sharp year-over-year declines in the size of its active customer base, the number of orders it received and the quantity of meals it delivered.
• The company’s North American revenue rose 1.3% in constant currency, to 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Global revenue was up 0.8%, to just under 2 billion euros.
• HelloFresh’s solid quarterly financial results contrast with declines in revenue at struggling rival Blue Apron during Q2, which laid off 20% of its corporate staff in mid-July.

Dive Insight:

HelloFresh CEO Dominik Richter characterized the company’s performance during the second quarter as a sign that it is in position to build on its dominance in the meal kit market during the coming months, but noted that it has had a bumpy ride in 2023.

While Hello Fresh’s adjusted EBITDA of 192 billion euros worldwide in Q2 represents its best ever quarterly performance by that measure, the company has dealt with capacity constraints and other headwinds that have blunted the momentum it gained during the pandemic, Richter said during an earnings call.

Across all of its regions, HelloFresh delivered about 254 million meals during Q2, a year-over-year drop of about 6%. The company’s North American segment, which includes operations in the U.S. and Canada and accounts for more than half of its business, saw a drop in that metric of 6.2%, to approximately 137 million meals.

The number of active customers on HelloFresh’s roles fell 9.6% during Q2 in North America, to 4.1 million. In addition, the company saw the number of orders it received in the region drop 5.6%, to 17.1 million.

“While we have achieved some amazing wins, and despite being the biggest disruptors in these two huge consumer categories of home cooking and ready-to-eat in the last decade, we still feel very early in our trajectory and are excited about the days ahead of us,” Richter said. “While it's always nicer to have everything go smoothly up into the ride in an extremely consistent fashion, the reality is that it's usually a little bit more messy and we continue to be faced with many things that we cannot control.”

Blue Apron, meanwhile, reported this week that steps it has taken in recent months to cut costs and improve efficiency have put it on track toward reaching profitability during the second quarter of next year. Blue Apron’s actions included laying off about 20% of its corporate staff in mid-July, a move that should save the company about $7 million per year, President and CEO Linda Findley said Wednesday.

The company generated net revenue during Q2 of $106.2 million, a year-over-year decrease of about 14%. In addition, Blue Apron posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.6 million in Q2, down from $16.2 million during the second quarter of 2022.

Blue Apron took in 1.4 million orders during the period, down from 1.7 million during the second quarter of 2022. The company served 349,000 customers in Q2, compared with 267,000 during the same period a year ago.