Gousto, one of the UK’s leading recipe box providers, has completed its ‘flagship’ automated fulfilment centre in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
The production hub, in partnership with Dematic – which designs automated solutions for manufacturing and distribution – will increase Gousto’s capacity beyond the 5 million meals currently being delivered per month across the UK.
The facility, which is its second in Lincolnshire, is set to be operational before the end of 2020.
Gousto says it has seen “remarkable recent growth” surpassing its 2019 revenues in the first six months of 2020, driven by increased consumer demand as the UK went into lockdown.
The company said it initiated an investment programme designed to step up its capacity, including accelerating plans for multiple new fulfilment centres and creating an additional 1,000 jobs by 2022. Funds from a recent funding round put the value of the business in excess of US$1 billion.
Timo Boldt, CEO and founder of Gousto, said: “The UK recipe box market has come of age in 2020, with the lockdown restrictions accelerating trends that were already firmly underway and new customers by the thousands being won over to the variety of meal choice and the convenience of high quality, fresh ingredients being delivered directly to their door.
“As our business continues to thrive and grow, it’s vitally important we have the infrastructure in place to meet rapidly rising levels of demand, whilst providing the best experience for our customers.”
A further two Dematic-designed automated facilities are also planned, which will “significantly increase Gousto’s production capacity by automating its fulfilment systems to improve efficiency and throughput,” the company says.
The new fulfilment centres are powered by Gousto’s proprietary algorithms alongside Dematic’s automation technologies increasing daily volumes, pick speed and accuracy, whilst reducing costs, the companies say.
Mr Boldt continued: “Automation is at the heart of this strategy for Gousto. Being the only provider in this space with fully automated production facilities enables us to offer by far the most choice and at the lowest price point for our customers.”
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