Cheffelo AB (publ) (CHEF) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hi, everyone, and welcome to Cheffelo's Capital Markets Event 2025. I'm Peter Bodor, and I look after communications, IR, and sustainability here at Cheffelo. I'll be your host today, guiding you through our menu, chatting with our presenters, and making sure that your questions are answered by the team during our Q&A a little bit later. It's almost hard to believe that our first capital market event was just 2 years ago in the autumn of 2023. Since then, a lot has happened. We've been busy cooking up new things and continue driving Cheffelo forward on its growth journey. Since we held our last capital markets event, the number of investors in Cheffelo has roughly doubled, adding more than 2,000 new investors. A big part of today is to follow up on the new financial targets that we announced in September and talk about where we are taking the business forward. But this will also be a chance for us to highlight what makes Cheffelo special as well as what an investor needs to think about when perhaps evaluating meal kits as an investment. And let's not forget, we're also really excited to have this opportunity to hear from you and answer your questions. On the topic of Q&A, if you have any questions, just pop them into the form on the right side of the broadcast. You can do this throughout the program, and we will address your questions towards the end of the session. We really look forward to hearing from you. Our CEO, Walker Kinman, I know that he's eager to get started, but he will have to wait just another minute while I go through today's menu. So let's see what we have in store. Walker will kick things off with an update on the state of Cheffelo, where we are now, what's ahead, and a look at the meal kit market and our ambitions. Next, Adam Björklund, our Chief Growth Officer, will share how he's reshaping the growth team and why we're seeing more new customers joining us this year. We will then turn to our product in 3 sessions. Claes Stenfeldt, Chief Customer Officer, will talk about how we deliver unmatched personalization and solve dinner better than anyone else. We'll then shift over to Oslo, where Anton Nytorp, our Chief Technology Officer, will explain the tech behind our personalized meal kits and how we make it work at scale. After that, we'll head on over to our Norwegian production facility, where Chief Operating Officer, Vibeke Amundsen, will discuss how we're raising the bar on service reliability and operational efficiency. She'll also touch on sustainability and invite one of our team leaders to talk about leadership and employee engagement. So I'm really looking forward to that. Then it's time for some number crunching with our CFO, Erik Bergman. He will walk us through Cheffelo's financial performance, outlook, capital allocation, and our recently updated financial targets. After the presentations, all our speakers will join us for the Q&A session. So please send in your questions, and we'll do our best to answer them. And then finally, Walker will return to wrap up the event with some closing remarks, and that is our agenda for today. Now with that out of the way, I'd like to welcome Walker Kinman, CEO of Cheffelo. Hi, Walker.

Hi, Peter, thanks.

I just mentioned that a lot has happened since we had our last Capital Markets Day, also when it comes to shareholder structure. And for those joining us for the first time, could you please give like the elevator pitch of who we are and what we do?

Well, the short answer to that, Peter, is that we solve dinner for tens of thousands of households around Scandinavia every week with our meal kits. So we've been a pioneer in the meal kit business for close to 2 decades. We're profitable, and we own and operate local brands in Sweden, Norway, and in Denmark. Last year, we delivered around 16 million meals, and we generated about SEK 1.1 billion in net sales. We currently have around 85,000 active customers and can deliver to around 91% of Scandinavian households. We're a listed company. Our share is traded on the NASDAQ First North Premier Exchange in Stockholm. We have a convenient ticker that is the symbol CHEF. And since listing the company in 2021, we've returned a little over SEK 90 million in cash dividends to our shareholders.

Thanks, Walker. But there are, of course, others who do meal kits as well. From your point of view, what sets Cheffelo apart?

Well, we have a clear ambition to solve dinner better than anyone else. And that means that in the space we choose to compete, we do a better job of it and are fulfilling our value proposition of delivering meals that unite families. So this is a meal kit delivered directly to the customer's doorstep once a week. It contains all of the fresh ingredients and simple instructions that are needed to prepare delicious and well-balanced home-cooked meals. When we say meals that unite families, we're talking about simplifying planning and logistics and doing it in a way that removes many of these hurdles that come with cooking from scratch. We're also doing it so that families are eating what they want to eat. They're loving the food experience so much so that they can enjoy spending time on being together as a family. And that's even on the most hectic of days.

When you say that Cheffelo solves dinner better than anyone else, that's a pretty bold statement. You're sticking your neck out there. What do you mean by that?

Well, aside from the fact that I think there is a very driven team with a lot of talent working at Cheffelo, it also comes down to how we differentiate our service in the market. Personalization has long been a strategic capability we have developed throughout our value chain, and we will be quick to point out that we are winning through personalization, so smart that it feels simple. We know that each of our customers has a unique set of likes and dislikes, and the size of households that we are targeting can vary from 2 people living together to a gaggle of children and adults sharing the same dinner table. So in that environment, taste is one component. And we offer over 200 unique recipes every month with each brand. But also our recipes can be ordered for 2, 3, 4, 5, and even 6 portions. This is something that Claes will talk a little bit more about. Keep in mind that being so smart, it feels simple also means not overwhelming the customer with configuration choices and being able to manage the service wherever and whenever it works for them. So we're putting technology to work that aims high in anticipating what customers are looking for in a way that also makes having a meal kit subscription super easy.

And for as long as we've known each other, I've always heard you talk a lot about operational excellence. And of course, Vibeke will address that later on today as well. From your point of view, what's the role of operational excellence for Cheffelo today?

We've been able to differentiate on operational excellence to a point that one of the things that stands out at Cheffelo is that we're nailing it on service reliability. This is operational excellence at its core, but also takes it one step further, giving the customer the confidence to depend on us to solve dinner. So probably everyone understands that when working with fresh produce, things are not going to always meet 100% of expectations once they've arrived in the kitchen. You know as well that this happens when you do your own grocery shopping, but expectation when you're paying for the service is even higher. So being dependable means that we're set up in a way that we quickly handle these deviations with the least amount of impact on preparing a meal that brings the family together. I've also talked a lot about Cheffelo as a food tech company. And both of these differentiators of personalization and service reliability are heavily tech-enabled. This is something that Anton is going to talk a little bit about, but they are things that are very hard to reproduce profitably at scale. This is something that creates a significant barrier to entry in the space for new competitors.

Let's be honest, Cheffelo is not even the biggest player in the meal kit space in Scandinavia.

That's true. But at the same time, we're seeing the competitive environment continue to evolve. So with capital costs that have been rising, shareholders demanding profitability, we've even seen HelloFresh announced changes to their strategy, which is also reducing their size in the Scandinavian market. So in 2024, Cheffelo grew in local currency by just over 7%. And by our estimate, we increased market share by 2 percentage points, reaching a little over 21%. We think that the Scandinavian meal kit reached around SEK 5.1 billion in 2024 and will likely grow at around 6% per year for the foreseeable future. Our new financial targets are aimed at 7% to 9% growth, that means that we're also expecting to continue increasing our market share in the coming years.

And Erik, of course, will give more flavor to our new financial targets later on today. And you're painting a picture of growth for Cheffelo. Do you also foresee that the meal kit category will be growing?

So in general terms, there are a lot of factors pointing in the right direction for continued growth in the meal kit space. For those of us that are delivering a clear value proposition and also have the business already tuned for profitable volume expansion. So in the near term, on, let's say, the macro side, we're seeing our markets generally moving in the right direction, especially in the Norwegian market. It's most recently been waking up; consumers are opening their wallets. Sweden is improving, but it's a little bit more in fits and starts, while Denmark may actually take a bit longer to stabilize on the consumer confidence side given the current turbulence in the Danish pharmaceutical industry.

And we basically invented the meal kit category more than 15 years ago. But the whole concept builds on a couple of megatrends, which are just getting stronger and stronger day by day. Can you please take us through those?

Sure. So while the pandemic might have artificially boosted short-term demand, the general trend of consumption behavior migrating to e-commerce continues. This is the first of these megatrends. There's a rising awareness of food as medicine when ultra-processed food is being more often singled out as a major factor in chronic food-related illnesses. This awareness and connection between food and health continues to increase, which in turn supports home cooking, if it can be done easily. Doing things easily also leads us then into the next megatrend, which is also where the new convenience plays an important role. So long working hours and active lifestyles are contributing to consumers feeling time pressure and needing to also -- needing and being willing to pay for services that help spend more quality time with the family. So finally, when you look at the megatrends, the call for sustainability is still there, remains loud and clear in Scandinavia. You've always been quick to point that out, Peter. Meal kits, with their inherent reduction in food waste in both the supply chain and in the home, contribute to a more sustainable food system. Many consumers have indicated they definitely or probably would change their behavior if it reduces their impact on the planet.

And Vibeke will talk later on about why and how meal kits actually are quite a resource-efficient way to get dinner on your table. I've been quite bullish about the prospect of meal kits, but it's not a kind of explosive development either that you're talking about. But in practical terms, how will we grow over the next few years? And could it have anything to do with carrots, Walker?

Yes. Well, we love our carrots. First of all, those who have been following our business since the pandemic will know that our business and the market went through a period of normalization. We have been posting year-over-year quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2023. And in the trading update that we recently published, we saw growth hit almost 27% on a local currency basis and even active customers increasing by 16%. We're also talking a lot about bumpy growth as the year-over-year growth is not consistently running at a steady rate, but it's hopping up and down. So both Erik and I will try to explain that a bit more, but there are 4 areas that we go back to when driving growth that will continue to hold true in our core meal kit business. So the first is price optimization. Here, we are perhaps less concerned these days with how we're going to upsell to customers as much as we are, but making sure that they are getting the personalized meal kit that fits their household. So recently, mix shifts in the number of meals and portions sold has increased, which gives a boost to average order value. But the predominant driver of optimized pricing is to make sure that we do not fall behind on inflation, and that means small adjustments at least once a year. We also expect add-ons in groceries to continue to grow as we strengthen our capabilities and develop the offering. But even this area, while it can contribute to a higher average order value, it is much more about driving loyalty. So while pricing and A&G supports a baseline value growth of around 3 percentage points annually, the core of the growth story is really about volume growth in acquisition, which also then includes the retention of subscribers. So acquisition and retention efforts both contribute to a further increase in active customers, while efforts on the retention side additionally contribute to increasing order frequency. So on the volume side of the equation, we see 4 to 6 percentage points of annual growth.

Can you tell us more about new customer acquisition?

All right. So let's take a look first at new customer acquisition. So Cheffelo has been very successful this year in attracting more customers. And Adam will walk us through what's happening in that area and the changes that are going on. Excluding the pandemic, which boosted demand, this is the highest level of new customer acquisition in recent years. Acquisition also follows a very clear seasonal pattern. It peaks in the first and third quarters. This also should help clarify why sales and marketing costs stand out in these quarters. And also why when acquisition rates increase or decrease, it disproportionately affects the top line growth rate. The reason for this has to do with the high rate of customer churn in the early stages of the meal kit customer journey. So with new customer additions in peak periods, having a greater effect on net sales in the quarter they are acquired. Taking the third quarter this year as an example, we increased customer acquisitions versus last year by 64%, which helped contribute to almost 27% growth year-over-year. But it is also very important to keep in mind that within 6 months, only around 20% of these customers will take at least one delivery during a month. So this highlights the other key area of development right now at Cheffelo, more successful customer onboarding and retention. Better retention boosts active customer numbers and order frequency rates over time. So if we get these small changes in long-term retention rates, they have the potential to greatly increase growth rates. The good news is that we're getting better, and 2024 cohort tracking is set to be on an all-time high. We get a confirmation of this looking at cohorts on a monthly basis. So not only are the averages tracking higher, but 75% of the monthly cohorts from 2024 are outperforming the top 25% from the 4 previous years. Every month for the first 9 months following the first delivery. If you look at it from a revenue retention perspective, it really is about the long-tail relationship. So meal kits are a bit like an annuity where the initial investment in customer acquisition gives a payoff over a very long period of time. In this chart, you can see how customer cohorts acquired even 5 years ago are still generating around 5% of the revenue each quarter that they generated in the quarter when they were acquired. Here as well, you can see that our most recent cohorts outside of the pandemic are tracking very well on revenue retention. The ability to demonstrate profitable growth in our business is important because it also means that our capabilities, which are generating value at this level only get stronger as we grow. This economies of scale effect also is a factor in setting the new financial targets ambition. So with a growth rate between 7% and 9% over time, we also expect to be able to deliver 7% to 9% EBIT profitability by 2028. Erik is going to walk us through a bit more of that when he comments on the financials.

Thanks, Walker. We certainly have our work cut out for us, and it's exciting to be part of this journey. You're going to come back later for the Q&A session, and you will also wrap the whole session up with some closing remarks, right?

I will. Thank you, Peter.

But now let's visit how the customer journey starts by customer acquisition. Please welcome Adam Björklund, our Chief Growth Officer. Adam came on board at the start of the year and has already brought tons of new energy to how we are growing Cheffelo's reach and digital growth. Welcome, Adam. Good to have you here. Today, you'll be sharing how we're attracting new customers in new ways.

That's right. And thanks, Peter, and good morning, everyone. Today, I want to explain how Cheffelo is changing the way we find new customers and grow our business. Our growth team is leading this work to make sure our company stays strong in the future and also, of course, continues to grow. We have already made a lot of progress. In 2025, we have improved how we attract and sign up new customers. We have updated our tools for measuring and understanding our business. Moreover, we're using successful marketing ideas and working with influencers and user-generated content and scaling that out across markets. We're also focusing on what we -- on what has worked well for us in the past. Current status is that we're seeing more new customers joining us compared to last year and compared to our goals. You saw some of these in Walker's material as well as in the trading update released a couple of weeks ago. Yet the way companies attract customers is changing quickly. People expect more from companies than ever before. At the same time, people are paying less attention to advertising. There is more online content than ever across an ever-growing number of channels, and it's always changing and improving. This means that we have to keep finding new ways to reach and interest our customers. We have also spent a lot of time improving our systems and tools behind the scenes. Now we are ready to focus more on what our customers actually see in front of them. This means we will reach more targeted people with what we offer, but also helping them to learn about us, making it easy for them to try our meal kits. Our goal is to help people discover our personalized and reliable service and to make it simple for them to become customers.

You have also reorganized your growth team quite recently. What was the thinking behind that? And what are you hoping to accomplish with this new setup?

That's right, Peter. We have recently reorganized our growth team. We did this because indeed, customer expectations are changing quickly, and we need to keep up. Our goal is to build a team that can move faster, be more flexible, and focus on what really matters for our customers. So we're actually changing our approach from the ground up. Instead of relying on outside agencies trying to do a little bit of everything ourselves, we are investing in building our own strong team and capabilities inside of Cheffelo, and we call this a capability-led approach.

I think I get it, but can you just explain a little bit more what a capability-led approach actually means?

Of course. So we're building our team around specialists and not just generalists. The world is moving too fast for one person to know everything deeply. So by bringing experts in key areas like artificial intelligence, data analytics, media buying, and automation, we can focus on actually doing slightly fewer things but do them much better. This helps us to move faster, have more control, and take real responsibility for making things happen instead of simply relying on many different outside perspectives. So it's basically all about investing in the right skills so we can grow in a smart and flexible way. Ultimately, this new setup will help us respond quickly to changes, use our custom technology better, and deliver better results for both our customers and our business.

Adam, I know you have a lot on your plate, but what would you say are the most important areas for us to win in the meal kit space?

I believe there are 3 main areas for how we can win in the meal kit space. First off, we need to amplify our digital flagship experience. This means making every step from the first time someone hears about us to when they sign up as seamless and compelling as possible. We want to define and own our customer journey by also talking slightly more about our superior product and service, making it easy and also enjoyable for people to become our customers. By doing this, people will see more value in what we offer, and they will also be willing to pay slightly more for our meal kits. At the same time, we'll continue to make sure that we attract high-quality customers. Second, as already mentioned, will be a fundamental part of our new approach. This is about strengthening our execution muscle by bringing marketing operations in-house. We're taking control by having specialists who work hands-on every day, constantly optimizing our efforts. This daily focus allows us to react quickly and make improvements where they matter the most. And thirdly, we have to energize our brands. In today's world, it's harder than ever to stand out. There's a real risk of becoming irrelevant, and that's not the place where we want to get trapped. Building stronger brands is a long-term effort. So instead of trying to do everything at once, we're breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps. We want to be known for something unique. And with so much content out there, even at the Hollywood-level quality, we want to make sure that we're noticed. And that doesn't mean we need to change everything about our brands overnight. Instead, we'll start by updating how we look, making it more energetic and playful, and we're doing that in a way that people will actually remember. And lastly, as we move away from manual work and embrace AI-powered tools, our long-term goal is, of course, to become what I usually refer to as an AI-native acquisition engine. We will use advanced analytics and automation to improve every part of the acquisition funnel. And this means getting real-time insights, creating more better and relevant content more efficiently, and also closing any gaps in how we reach people online. By doing this, we can make every step of the customer journey smarter and more effective.

You presented some bold tactical moves and some exciting initiatives. When you and your team discuss the picture of success or what you're looking to accomplish, what are the things you're talking about?

When my team and I talk about success, there are a few things that I usually come back to. First, the reason why we show up to work every day, we want to bring in even more high-value customers and do that in a way that is profitable for the business. That means we're always working to lower the cost of acquiring each new customer, but while also making sure that people who join us stay with us longer. We also want to grow by attracting new customers throughout the whole year and not just during those busy sales periods. Meanwhile, we keep a close eye on our marketing spending, making sure that every krona we invest brings real results. Another important part of being successful is actually measuring our progress. We're introducing a clear system to track our results, both over the long term, but also we track how many experiments we run, like A/B tests, creative pilots, and how quickly we can turn those insights into action. The faster we learn and adapt, of course, the better we can serve our customers. Last but not least, using special methods to understand which marketing activities help us get new customers at each step of that customer journey. And maybe most importantly, we need to stay abreast of new technology changes happening in the market. And we are very focused on using AI and automation in our customer acquisition and analytics. We monitor how well these new tools are working in practice, making sure that they really help us reach more people and also understand our business. Meanwhile, we are also making sure that we take a very cautious step-by-step approach to developing new ideas and tools, and this helps us avoid any disruptions, especially during important sales periods. As, of course, we want to keep things running smoothly while we improve. Yet as always, the real proof is in what we deliver. So instead of just talking about our plans, I'd like to show you how we're growing by nudging modern families to solve dinner better than anyone else with a little show reel. So here we go.

That was really cool. Thanks for showing us that, Adam. I love our brands coming to life like that. Before I let you go, any last words or anything you would like to summarize?

To conclude, this transformation is about scaling smarter, moving slightly faster, and building a growth function ready for the future.

Short and efficient. Thank you very much, and I'll see you for the Q&A.

Thank you.

We will now shift gears slightly and zoom in on the product in 3 different segments, but all from the focus of how we solve dinner better than anyone else and how we nail it on service reliability. And first out is Claes Stenfeldt, Chief Customer Officer. Claes and his team are responsible for customer experience and engagement. Hi, Claes, welcome. Thank you for being here.

Great...

We often say that we solve dinner better than anyone else. And I said earlier to Walker that that's a pretty bold statement. What do you put into it? And how do you think the customer thinks about it?

Yes. We offer unmatched convenience and variation for busy families with the market's largest menu selection for weekday dinners. What's special about our service is that you can pick every meal yourself or if you're short on time, you can let us recommend some options. Either way, you get great dinners that works for everyone in your family. Equally important is our commitment to deliver the best seasonal offering on the market. We don't just adapt ingredients to the season with a big part of the menus. For example, in the summer, we introduced barbecue themes, fresh summer salads, lighter, easy-to-prepare dishes, making it easy for our customers to enjoy the meal kit whenever at home or on holiday. This approach ensures that our offer is always relevant and inspiring, reducing the risk that customers take a pause or pause the subscription during seasonal shifting. Instead, we encourage them to bring the meal kit with them throughout the whole year.

Yes, because I don't think everybody knows that you can actually redirect your meal kit delivery and have it delivered to your summer cottage or wherever you might be. That's pretty cool. So delivery is one part. But also, I guess, our suppliers play a very important role when it comes to making us relevant throughout the year.

Yes, that's right. Our suppliers are a big part of what makes this possible. We build strong long-term relationships with our suppliers that we trust, and we work closely with them to get ingredients that really fit our meal kits, ensuring the ideal portion sizes, unique taste profiles, seasonal products, and, of course, efficient packing. So by prioritizing local suppliers whenever possible, we also support regional producers, reduce transport time and guarantee fresh ingredients. These partnerships are essential for secure, reliable deliveries to our production facilities and maintaining high quality throughout the year as a part of solving dinner better than anyone else.

It's not one size fits all, so it's about personalization. Why?

All families are different. And we use individual customer preferences and behavior data such as historic ratings, dish selections to recommend meals that fits each household's tastes and dietary needs, and of course, the routines. Personalization is the key to making our offer and service valuable. We don't believe in, as you say, one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we offer a wide range of options to a broader market that matches the unique preferences for each family. Today, we offer 200 unique recipes every month that cover everything from classic comfort food to modern international dishes, as well as vegetarian, family-friendly meals. We also include fast and easy recipes, healthy, well-balanced choices, and seasonal specials, of course. And this means that there is always something new to try and something every family will love. So by focusing on personalization, we make the meal planning simpler, more enjoyable, and truly relevant for every household.

Yes. And gathering families around the dinner table, it's more than just the actual eating. There are so many studies showing that it has positive benefits for psychological health, cognitive learning and relationships as well. What do you put into this definition, Claes?

Yes, that's right, Peter. For us, the dinner table is where real connection happens. It's about giving families a reason to slow down and share stories and enjoy being together even when life is busy. We want to make it easier for families to have those moments, not just by providing good food, but by helping create the right setting for that quality time. We design our service and meal kits to take the stress out of dinner so families can focus on what really matters: being with each other. And when meals are easier to make and everyone finds something they like, it's just simpler to bring everyone together around the table.

And I mean, I think I've lost track of how many times I've heard you say that we're never better than our latest delivery. And I really like that mindset because it keeps you on your toes. Can you talk a little bit about how we collect feedback from our customers? How do we know what they like and how do we know what perhaps needs a little bit more seasoning?

Yes, that's right, Peter. We should never relax and think we're done. We must always make sure that the next delivery is the best. That's what we mean by we're never better than our last delivery. We use our Customer Compass. It's a recurring in-depth customer survey to gather feedback on every aspect of our service and product, both the digital side and the physical. Each week, we collect insights into everything from the sign-up experience and recipe selection to meal quality, ingredient freshness, and delivery. So that direct feedback on recipes and complaints about ingredients and/or deliveries are reviewed continuously. And with this approach, we ensure that improvements are always based on real customer input and not assumptions. So by identifying gaps and opportunities across the entire customer journey, we can quickly adapt and enhance both the digital platform and our physical meal kits to stay relevant and meet our customer needs.

For us, we see each step of the customer journey as being very important. But what's most important for our customers? And how do you and your team prioritize?

Yes. We prioritize what families value most: convenience, taste, variation and reliability. We choose not to invest in those areas that don't strengthen those core capabilities. Our resources are dedicated to reliable deliveries, a broad and relevant menu, and a seamless digital experience. So by focusing only on what matters and always listening to our customers, we stay ahead of our competitors and build long-lasting loyalty. To further strengthen this, we are putting even more focus on CRM to drive personalized communication through the entire customer journey. We are developing a new loyalty program that will reward customers for ordering more often. We are continuously developing our add-ons and grocery selection to give families even more choices and enhance the meal kit experience. So by prioritizing these areas and acting on customer feedback, we drive higher order frequency, have greater retention and build long-term loyalty with our customers.

So what you're saying is that by adding more add-ons and groceries and those kind of services surrounding the meal kit, the ambition is not to create a new Oda or Mathem, but it's to strengthen loyalty, right?

Yes, that's correct. And it is a service that serves a purpose to build more around the meal kit loyalty.

Thanks a lot, Claes. I think we're done there, and then you're going to come back and join us for the Q&A later.

That's right. Thanks.

Let's now connect to Cheffelo's Oslo office, where our Chief Technology Officer, Anton Nytorp, is getting ready to talk to us. Hi, Anton. Good to see you.

Good to see you, Peter.

When people hear Cheffelo, I would guess they probably picture our meal kits, the box on the doorstep, the fresh ingredients, the recipe cards. But behind the scenes, there's a whole lot of tech making all this possible from how you order to how we deliver to how every meal is tailored just for you and your family. Let's start with the basics, Anton. What's the secret tech sauce behind Cheffelo's tech platform?

Thank you, Peter. Our technology platform is completely custom-built and heavily optimized for what we do in Cheffelo. I think it's easy to get the impression that this is sort of just another e-commerce solution based on some off-the-shelf solution that we buy. It is indeed a very complex platform that underpins all of our different business activities and processes. Most of the things you see are developed by us in-house and tailored to Cheffelo. It is modern. It's built there with cloud-native technology and sort of state-of-the-art. It's something we have perfected over many, many years. We have 4 different brands, but it's one common tech platform that gives us the scale and leverage we need. Some things are very country-specific, like payment options and so on. But I dare say that's 95% of the rest is very similar and based on one common platform.

Anton, you and I have shared a few dinners, so I know that we have slightly different preferences when it comes to food. And our customers are, of course, just as unique. That's why no 2 Cheffelo meal kits are ever quite the same. And that's also why personalization is such a big deal for us. How does our tech help us serve up that kind of tailored experience? And also, what's next for making it even better?

Yes. I mean this is an area we are investing heavily in. So what it is, it's tailoring the customer experiences through both using customer preferences and AI to come up with the perfect meal kit for you. So this is evolving rapidly. And already today, what the customer sees is very, very different from what they experienced just a year ago. And in the future, we're envisioning a completely new product experience that is much more -- much much more personalized than anything we offered before. I mean we're still trying to solve those key customer problems around dinner planning, but technology as an enabler, right? So -- and also like keeping it very simple on the customer-facing side. Our AI doesn't just recommend recipes. It learns from customer behavior, preferences, dietary restrictions, recipe ratings, and favorites. The idea is that taste buds and preferences they are very individual and complex. And for us to offer this at scale, we need to deliver robust personalization tools with advanced technology on our end. The other big theme here is increased opportunities for customization. So there's no one size fits all out there. I mean every customer is unique, and tailoring recipes to unique customers, creating custom sizes within a week for different dishes, all of those different things. I think the key to getting this right is that we're still all about simplicity, right? So in theory, you could delete the app and just have really great meal experiences delivered to you week in and week out. But we also need to cater to those customers who want a little bit more customer experience, right? And this must be very, very simple. So we need to hide away the complexity for the customer. It should be really, really simple, and we take care of the complexity on our end.

Well, I guess that's really the thing, making it look easy for our customers while the backbone might be really complex and complicated. What role is tech playing when it comes to enhancing the overall customer experience, Anton?

Take a busy family with children, right? They are all very, very different, but most of them always have that same problem, like what's for dinner today, right? You can go to the grocery store, you can shop online at an online grocer, and there are multiple alternatives for that. You can do takeaway and so on. But I think no one solves this as well as we do and as smoothly as we do. We're all about solving the dinner problem, right? And every step along the customer journey from sign-up to meal selection to delivery and customer service and all of these things we're using technology to remove friction and add value. We learn what you want. We offer personalized meals for you. You can easily manage your subscriptions, edit your weekly deliveries, and you can track the delivery van with high precision. And if you want to pause for a few weeks, I mean, go ahead and do that. We don't have any dark UX patterns or stuff like that, making it impossible to cancel a subscription. That's not our ethos, if you will. We want to create a service that is so good that customers love it and just keep using it. They can't live without it. And then they tell all their friends that they need this as well, right? That's the goal. One big investment we have made in Cheffelo this year is to build an in-house UX design team. And this isn't just about making things look prettier, it's not about that. It's about fundamentally improving how customers interact with our service at every touchpoint. And having the UX designers in-house means we can move faster, we can iterate quicker, and we can work hand-in-hand with our engineers and product managers. More importantly, we now have people who live and breathe our brand and the customer challenges every day, mean they sweat the details. They care deeply about this. And that type of ownership is really, really hard to get if you rely on external agencies and consultants, right? For us to succeed, I fundamentally believe that we have to be relentlessly customer-focused. And we have to spend our scarce resources on solving the right problems. It's easy to come up with just solutions and solutions. And as a tech team, we can't really do that by just sitting in an air-conditioned office and dreaming up new ideas. I think we need to get out there in the customer kitchens, right? We talk to real customers regularly. We get real input from them. We test out new prototypes on them, trying to really, really understand how our product can help them create a little bit more joy in their everyday life and a little bit more simplicity. So I mean, yes, we're selling meals and that's our product, but it's not a software. But I believe that the technology is what helps us deliver that really awesome customer experience.

We started off by talking about how tech enables everything we do. Can you give some more flavor to how tech enables Cheffelo to operate such a complex business at scale?

Yes. I mean this is crucial. In the tech team, we have this very important job of enabling this very complex business process to operate at scale in a profitable way, right? We're building tools and systems to manage thousands of recipes, millions of ingredient picks every year, I mean, complex supply chains, precise delivery windows, all of this is very, very complex. What's good about meal kits and consumer products in general, of course, they are high-volume businesses. This means that any process improvement, however small it may seem, mean it's really valuable. And if you do all of these micro-optimizations that compound over time, it can easily mean the difference of percentage points in contribution margin if we get that right. So efficiency, that's one side of the coin, right? The other side of the coin is to enable great customer experiences. So the customer expects a premium experience, which is reliable; they should always get what they ordered, always get it on time, etc. and good quality and also at a price point that makes us still relevant in the market, right? So in essence, we're running a very sophisticated orchestration system that coordinates all of these different inputs to give a really good customer experience. And I mean, without this sophisticated technology foundation, we couldn't do this at scale. It would be impossible.

Okay. So my last question to you Anton. If you look in your crystal ball, how can tech continue to be a competitive advantage for Cheffelo?

I mean if you look at our technology platform, it is clearly built for scale. I think we can scale exponentially in volume and across geographies with a very limited effect on technology cost. I mean we're more than ready to meet whatever the future holds for Cheffelo. Looking into the future, we're also excited about how we can use AI even more in our day-to-day operations. We already use it a lot to personalize the customer experience, but I think we also have so much more room to use it internally as well. Think about what it means if we can give each of our chefs a great assistant to help them with the perfect recipe creation, editing, and curation, and all of those things. I mean the type of dynamism in the business that could be unleashed by that. And beyond that, what if all of our employees can be empowered with agents and have all of our company knowledge at their fingertips? How powerful this future will be. So I'm really excited about that. So these are some of the themes. I'm very excited about the type of new customer experience we can build with the help of technology. I mean we're all about solving dinner better than everyone else, and I firmly believe that technology is the key for that, right?

Thanks so much, Anton. Great talking to you, and I will see you for the Q&A later.

Thank you, Peter.

Now we're leaving the Oslo office and heading over to our production facility, which is just outside of Oslo. This is where the magic happens for our Norwegian meal kits. And here's a fun fact for you: Norway actually makes up about half of our net sales. And I think I'm joined by Vibeke Amundsen, Cheffelo's Chief Operating Officer. Vibeke and her team are the ones making sure everything runs smoothly from packing ingredients to getting these boxes out the door. Hi, Vibeke. Great to see you. What's cooking in your world today?

Hi, and welcome to our production facility here in Norway. Today, I'm excited to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we deliver our promise to customers every single week, no matter what. It's been a fantastic year: higher volumes, lower claim rates, and strong engagement across our teams with great leadership scores for our team leaders. But what really sets us apart is our commitment to operational excellence, continuous improvement, and a culture where everyone is proud to deliver, challenges the status quo, and are better together.

Let's talk about one very important aspect of the customer experience: service reliability. What does that mean for Cheffelo and in particular, for you and your team in operations, Vibeke?

Service reliability means that every customer receives their meal kit on time in perfect condition every single week, regardless of holidays, weather, or supply chain hiccups. Our claim rate has dropped 12% from last year, and customer inquiries are at an all-time low. That's a clear evidence that our service is more reliable than ever. And how do we make this happen? We have very robust processes, cross-trained teams, and we have a culture of accountability. Even when something unexpected happens, the customer shouldn't feel it. We deliver through red days, holiday periods, peaks, and any kind of challenges. Within our short lead times, we work closely with our suppliers to find good solutions so that customers can really rely on our services.

Yes. And we're always tweaking things in order to improve the delivery experience for our customers, right?

Yes. We've done great improvements in our delivery experience for our customers. We have launched a new platform using Gordon's live tracking. So now our customers can follow their delivery in real time. It's a fantastic service. Customers know exactly when the meal kits will arrive, which means they don't have to reach out to us for updates. It puts them in control and makes the whole process smoother. We have also made big strides on the logistics side. In both Norway and Sweden, we've expanded our delivery areas. So now about 5% of our weekly deliveries are going to places that we couldn't reach a few years ago. That means more families can enjoy Cheffelo no matter where they live. And in Denmark, we have added even more flexibility. On top of our traditional night deliveries, customers can now choose day or evening time slots. More than 20% of our Danish customers now prefers to get their meal kits during the day. It's really rewarding to see how the customer appreciates the new options and how we make their lives easier.

We've heard Anton and Claes touch on personalization, so smart, feels simple. Producing this experience at scale where all kits are unique puts some tough demands on production. How do you handle this aspect in operations, Vibeke?

Yes, that's right. Every box we send out is 100% personalized to the customer, but the process is seamless and scalable. We make and deliver more than 30,000 personalized meal kits every week, yet our customer experience is as effortless because our operations are designed to handle complexity without compromise. Our tech platform, as outlined by Anton, and aligned teams means that every ingredient, every box, and every delivery is tailored to each customer's needs. But the process for personalization should be so smart that it feels simple. While offering one size fits all -- while all these offer one size fits all, we deliver to personalization at scale.

I'll admit I'm a bit biased, but honestly, for me and my family, having a meal kit delivered is a real game changer for us. It takes the stress out of weekday dinners and keeps things running smoothly at home. But from an operations point of view, how do you and your team make sure Cheffelo really does solve the dinner problem better than anyone else?

Our job in operations is to help make dinner the easiest part of our customers' day from the moment they order to the moment they plate up. We listen to our customers, test new ideas, and rapidly implement what works. To improve the unboxing experience, we work hand in hand with families to find the best solutions for improvement. No one solves the dinner problem like we do because no one else combines operational precision, personalization, and customer obsession the way we at Cheffelo do. We also explore new technology like machine learning, robots, and different kinds of optimization to further improve our productivity and customer experience.

Vibeke, you know that sustainability or ESG as it's often referred to in these kinds of settings, is close to my heart, and you and I discussed this topic a lot. Please tell us about some of the progress that you've made recently within this field.

Sustainability is at the center of our operations. Thanks to Gordon's wide use of verticals, we can distribute more meal kits without adding ice, creating a smoother customer experience. In 2024, we used almost 20% less ice bags than we did 2 years ago. Cheffelo has cut the total plastic use in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark by 12 tonnes, a reduction of 42%, much thanks to fewer ice bags, but also working with our suppliers to optimize packaging of ingredients to minimize plastic while ensuring the quality remains great when it's time to make dinner. And our business model is unique. We help solve the dinner problem with almost no food waste. We only order what goes into the meal kits and our suppliers don't have to overproduce. Our customers use everything in the kit for their recipes. Last year, we had only 2.5 grams of food waste per portion, and we are ready to go even further.

I'm looking forward to that. And let me also take the opportunity to point to our sustainability reports, which are part of our annual reports, and they are, of course, available from our website, cheffelo.com. So go check that out if you haven't already. Shifting gears slightly, Vibeke. Let's talk about all our Cheffelonians who make everything happen.

Looking back over the last 2 years, I'm incredibly proud of the improvements we have achieved, but none of this would be possible without our engaged teams and strong leadership. With 200 people involved in operations, many working part-time, success depends on everyone going in the same direction. Our team leaders are the secret ingredients. They create psychological safety, set clear goals, give feedback, and drive engagement every day.

And you're actually joined now by a colleague of ours, Martyna Czepkowska, who's a team leader in our production. Hi, Martyna, great to have you joining us.

Yes. This is Martyna, one of our great leaders in production. So Martyna, what is important for you to make the team perform at its best?

So for me as a leader, the most important thing is to create a supportive and structured environment where everyone knows what's expected of them, they feel valued, and have an opportunity to grow. I believe that open communication, regular feedback, and clear expectations are essential to keep the team motivated and aligned.