Locus Robotics has enabled HelloFresh to expand its chilled fulfillment capacity from 100 to 500 SKUs—a fivefold increase—through a cold-storage hardware modification developed for the meal kit company. The upgrade supports greater meal variety and new revenue opportunities across HelloFresh's brand portfolio, including Factor and EveryPlate.
Key takeaways
- HelloFresh initially deployed 13 Locus Origin robots in July 2025, which averaged a mission time of 3 minutes 36 seconds from order induction to box drop-off, demonstrating reliability in chilled environments.
- Within three months, HelloFresh added 26 more Locus Origin robots, with plans to extend support to EveryPlate fulfillment later this year.
- Locus Robotics developed a heated motor enhancement and charging modifications to ensure continuous operation in cold storage, addressing battery efficiency challenges.
- The deployment covers approximately 12,000 square feet of chilled space, including two high-speed meal kit picking lines, and offers a flexible alternative to fixed conveyor systems.
HelloFresh chose a focused proof of concept with Locus over a larger integrated system, citing faster implementation, lower upfront cost, and a simpler, safer AMR platform. The approach reduced space requirements and allowed most testing to be completed virtually, with final validation taking only days.
Source: Robotics & Automation News (roboticsandautomationnews.com) · Published 2026-07-07 · “HelloFresh expands chilled warehouse capacity fivefold with Locus Robotics automation”