Glen Richardson becomes Non-Executive Director at DTC recipe box startup Chefs for Foodies

Glen Richardson has joined Chefs for Foodies as a Non-Executive Director.

The idea for Chefs For Foodies was born during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, with a desire to support chefs as their restaurants closed and offer foodies an alternative to meal kit deliveries.

It provides the latter an opportunity to engage professional chefs and learn how to cook some of their signature dishes, learn new skills and rustle up a ‘perfectly plated dish’ with ingredients delivered directly to their door.

Chefs for Foodies has also established a SaaS e-commerce marketplace with chef recommended artisan products from independent food brands.

Richardson is also Director at Exceedity, which works with B2C, B2B and DTC organisations looking for help with marketing, technology, customer care and fulfilment.

Prior to that, he was Chief Omnichannel Officer at The Range. He has also worked at Ideal Shopping Direct, serving as CMO and CTO, and Fruugo (CTO).

HelloFresh

HelloFresh is currently trialling its own delivery fleet, pitched as a first in the UK recipe box provider category.

The six-month initiative is operated out of the Beehive distribution centre in Nuneaton and will initially cover the Birmingham and the West Midlands conurbation area.

It offers customers in these areas the opportunity to select a premium 30 min delivery slot, with a simplified process for second delivery if the first delivery attempt is unsuccessful.

HelloFresh already delivers directly to customers in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Australia.

Sarah Norman, COO at HelloFresh UK, says: "Our mission is to change the way people eat forever - empowering our customers to make choices that are right for them. Building our own last mile solution is an important step to further deliver this promise.”

“This will allow us unprecedented contact with our customers and put further control in their hands, deciding when they want their deliveries to be made. I look forward to learning from this trial to further optimise the service we provide to our customers.”

The trial will be using owned refrigerated vehicles allowing HelloFresh to save packaging in the form of insulation and ice packs.

The firm says that Introducing its own delivery solution will also support another important goal in its sustainability strategy - saving CO2 emissions on the last mile by cutting out middlemen and reducing van miles.