Having seen sales double during the Covid-19 crisis, meal kit company Gousto is looking to sign up 1,000 more staff.
The jobs will be in tech and marketing but some workers will also be needed in packing and preparing food kits.
Launched in 2012, Gousto doubled its workforce to 1,000 in 2020 and aims to double it again by the end of 2022 as it opens additional packing and distribution centres in Warrington and Thurrock.
Gousto boss Timo Boldt said the firm was flourishing because of consumers increased focus on health, convenience and sustainability and it was now taking market share from supermarkets. He added that strong sales had continued into the first quarter of 2021 and said he was confident that the customers who had made the switch to shopping for food online during the pandemic would not go back.
“We sold over 25 million meals in the first quarter, so the strong trading has continued into the first part of this year,” he said.
“We have doubled the business every single year over the last couple of years. During the pandemic we have grown faster but we were growing fast before,” Boldt added.
Meal kits sales have increased significantly while restaurants have been closed, but Boldt said that even as they reopen growth would continue because Gousto was a cheaper option than dining out.
The firm moved into profit for the first time in the past year with sales of £189m – up 129%. In 2019 it made a loss of £9.1m.
Among investors in the company is home exercise YouTube guru Joe Wicks.
Boldt, who claimed that Gousto would be using compostable or recyclable packaging by the end of the year, said: “Customers are creating [something like] a supermarket shop in a much easier way. It feels unlikely people are going to go back to pushing trolleys and queueing.”
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