'Keto and lower carb diets have been underserved by the food and drink industry': HelloFresh launches special diet brand in the Netherlands where ‘35% of consumers follow a nutrition rule’

HelloFresh launches special diet Green Chef brand in the Netherlands where ‘35% of consumers follow a nutrition rule’

Meal kit provider HelloFresh has launched its special diet Green Chef brand in the Netherlands after spotting strong interest in special diets among consumers in the country.

The Berlin-based business operates in the UK, US, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, France and Denmark. Its weekly meal kits come with pre-packaged fresh ingredients and cooking instructions and take typically 30 minutes to prepare.

Green Chef, which plans meals to fit around customers’ healthy eating goals, was founded in the US and later acquired by HelloFresh in early 2018. It has since been scaled up.  

Following Green Chef's success in the US, and a successful expansion to the United Kingdom in 2021, the company is now introducing the brand for health-conscious customers to the Netherlands.

Green Chef’s value proposition provides the perfect opportunity to target distinct customer segments, said HelloFresh. For this purpose HelloFresh has tailored the brand and product proposition to a health-savvy Dutch consumer. Green Chef will offer a variety of plans to cater to different lifestyles and dietary preferences, such as vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, flexitarian, lower carb and keto. All of Green Chef's recipes are created by a team of certified dieticians with a big focus on flavour, quality ingredients and variety to create inspiration for every dish. Their work will offer health conscious consumers greater convenience, and peace of mind while following their preferred diet.

Offering ‘variety, convenience, and peace of mind for consumers’ with specialist diets

Green Chef Netherlands offers six popular diets: keto, vegan, vegetarian, lower carb, flexitarian and pescatarian.

Having been active in the Netherlands for more than ten years, HelloFresh said it was “determined that it was missing out on a very attractive customer segment which cares deeply about their food and dietary choices and frequently cooks at home”.​ Sticking to healthy eating goals can be seen as restrictive and even confusing, leaving people feeling overwhelmed and despondent, it said. “Researching recipes, shopping, and reading labels to find the ideal ingredients takes a lot of time. That is why people either don’t even try or quit, while trying to achieve their health goals.”​ Green Chef is the ‘perfect solution’ for these customers and the 35% of Dutch consumers who follow at least one nutrition rule in their daily life.

HelloFresh added this latest launch is consistent with its growth strategy. It announced: “It will help cement the company’s market dominance in the Dutch meal kit sector through appealing to an even wider pool of prospective customers and to reach those in the Netherlands who are currently not catered for through HelloFresh’s current offering. It will also help HelloFresh to reach its ambition to scale its business significantly over the next few years.”​

A spokesperson added: ​“We are very excited to bring Green Chef to the Netherlands following the brand’s success in the US and the UK. As a business, we remain in a period of high-growth, and it is essential that we are continually diversifying our offer to bring new and exciting choices to both our existing customer base and those who are yet to experience what meal kits have to offer.​

To date, the health and diet conscious segment of the market, such as those following keto, lower carb or vegan diets, have been underserved by the food and drink industry. That’s why we are especially pleased to be launching Green Chef in the Netherlands, and which we are sure will bring greater convenience, peace of mind, and variety to these customers.”​

The move is also part of HelloFresh’s plan to become world-leading food solutions group.

Its second-quarter results released last week revealed that while earnings dropped as expected in the inflation-mired period, the company's active customer base increased by 4.1% year-on-year to eight million in the second quarter, while the average order value increased by 11% year-on-year on a constant currency basis. "Our product offering continues to come at an attractive and competitive pricing and brings additional benefits to our customers, such as having fresh food delivered to their homes, reducing food waste and taking away the hassle of having to think about what to shop and cook,”​ said HelloFresh CEO Dominik Richter.