HelloFresh

At HelloFresh, sustainability was mostly about reporting and capital-intensive projects. Big plans, complex processes and a lot of numbers on paper. There were also some employee-led initiatives, but they felt largely symbolic. An awareness day here, a campaign there.

What was missing was the connection to the daily behaviour of employees. Sustainability was something the organisation did, not something people experienced or felt themselves.

Victor Smit, Sustainability Lead at HelloFresh, wanted to change that. No more symbolic gestures. But an approach that shows employees what their own behaviour does, builds knowledge and creates a community around a shared green identity. Measurable, concrete and carried by the people themselves.

The approach

In 2023, HelloFresh started working with Sustainers as part of their Learning & Development programme. Employees could join daily challenges through the app, build a personal habit profile and see in real time how much CO₂ their choices saved.

Victor launched the programme simply and directly:

"Together with Sustainers, we have committed to reduce a total of 200,000 kg of CO₂ this year. But we need your help."

Participation was facilitated through employees' personal learning budget. A deliberate choice to position sustainability as personal development.

What happened

What stood out was not just who participated, but what happened next. People who started discovering what their own behaviour did wanted to continue. They invited colleagues themselves. They asked for more challenges. A healthy competition emerged among the most active participants.

The insights came in places nobody had expected. Iris, recipe developer at HelloFresh, had never thought about her digital CO₂ footprint before. The app showed it to her. Concrete, personal and immediately actionable. Not because someone had told her. But because she discovered it herself.

"I had never really stopped to think about my digital CO₂ footprint. I found it really cool to get that insight."

That feeling was broader than one person. Employees who thought sustainability was something for large organisations and governments discovered that their own daily behaviour actually matters. For many that was a genuine eye opener. And it stayed with them.

The result

After a year, 20% of employees said they had become more aware in their daily lives. Measured through a survey. Not just on the obvious themes, but especially in areas where they had never seen any connection to CO₂ before.

That is not a small number for a programme that runs on voluntary participation and personal motivation.

The learning

At HelloFresh, participants paid from their own learning budget. In practice this turned out to be a barrier. Voluntarily participating and paying for it yourself are two hurdles at once. The more accessible the start, the bigger the movement that follows.

The programme also taught us what it takes to hold people's attention over a longer period. Participants wanted more varied challenges, more concrete data and better notifications for daily check-ins. These insights shaped every collaboration that followed.

What this means

HelloFresh showed what happens when you treat sustainability not as an organisational project, but as a personal experience. People who discovered that their own daily behaviour actually matters. Who asked to continue. Who brought colleagues along into the movement.

Start small. Grow together. That is what works.