All-electric American automaker Rivian Automotive and HelloFresh, the world’s leading meal kit provider, have announced a milestone moment of reducing over 200 tonnes of carbon thanks to their partnership aimed at cutting transport emissions with Rivian’s Commercial Van.
HelloFresh is Rivian’s first major fleet customer since Rivian opened van sales to the public earlier this year.
HelloFresh has incorporated 70 all-electric Rivian commercial vans into its fleet, outfitted in the company’s Factor branding. “Fresh prepared food is one of the fastest growing grocery segments, and Factor leads the market with healthy, convenient, high-quality, ready-to-eat meals,” said Nunzio Di Savino, VP, US Logistics for HelloFresh. “We’re taking this opportunity to showcase Factor’s dedication to sustainability through impactful branding, including our delivery fleet.”
With Rivian’s support, nearly a quarter of HelloFresh’s fleet is now electric. Driving more than 250,000 miles since the partnership began, HelloFresh has saved an estimated 20,000 gallons of gasoline. They have also been able to significantly reduce their CO2 output by 200 tonnes, the equivalent to the carbon sequestered in 300 acres of US forest.
Furthermore, HelloFresh’s last mile delivery network optimizes driving routes to decrease the distance traveled from distribution center to doorstep. Not only does this further reduce HelloFresh’s carbon footprint, but allows the company to reduce packaging such as insulation and ice packs (6-10% packaging weight reduction on each box) and food waste as well thanks to shorter transit times. HelloFresh’s transit hubs are close to major city centers in 14 markets. Utilizing electric vehicles in these areas helps cut emissions by avoiding the frequent stop-and-go with gas powered vehicles that’s typical in dense urban environments.
Di Savino says, “Finding sustainable solutions is one of our core values, including ensuring that our operations run as efficiently and cleanly as possible. By adding the Rivian Commercial Van into our fleet, not only have we cut our CO2 emissions, but we also play our role in helping to clean the air in the cities in which we operate.”
Tom Solomon, VP, B2B Growth & Business Development said, “We’re delighted that HelloFresh has joined us on our mission to cut emissions and protect our environment. HelloFresh delivers to millions of customers in the US, so by adding more electric vehicles to its fleet, it has not only helped reduce their carbon output, but has improved air quality in cities across the US We’re looking forward to working with Ryder to help HelloFresh achieve their climate goals.”
The Rivian Commercial Van is designed from the ground-up prioritizing safety, sustainability and ownership costs. The van is engineered to be one of the safest commercial vehicles on the road with features including automatic emergency braking, collision warnings and 360-degree visibility. The vehicles run with Rivian’s in-house software stack which underpins the fleet management system, improving efficiency and contributing to a lower total cost of ownership.
HelloFresh will be using Ryder and its RyderElectric+ solution to help them navigate the electric vehicle landscape. Ryder will provide advisory, leasing and maintenance services, allowing HelloFresh to achieve its own sustainability goals.
