Gousto eyes return to profit after slashing jobs in the wake of post-pandemic losses
Gousto, the recipe box delivery service, has said it is on track to return to profit this year, following a year of losses fuelled by soaring inflation and economic headwinds.
But losses for the business, whose backers include wellness guru Joe Wicks, widened to £157.6m in 2022, against £19.9m a year earlier, blamed on spiralling food price inflation and falling consumer confidence.
Revenues at the 11-year-old company fell to £306m in 2022, against £317m in the previous year.
The company, which was valued at £1.4bn last year, slashed 29 per cent of its 1,750-strong workforce, as its ambitious hiring plans foundered after the pandemic.
Timo Boldt, chief executive and co-founder, said: “Since launching Gousto in 2012, food price inflation averaged less than 1.5 per cent but within months of the Ukraine war we had to manage sustained double-digit growth in food costs, with many individual ingredients hitting record levels.
“Increasing automation across our production facilities and the use of AI technology to select weekly menus from our databank of over 6,000 recipes, optimising for value as well as customer satisfaction, taste and health, has enabled us to minimise the impact of double digit food price inflation on our customers,”
To help aid its return to profitability, the business has agreed a new £30m debt facility with Signal Capital Partners, a London-based private asset manager.
The company has raised £100m so far this year, that also includes a £50m equity raise from existing shareholders.
Boldt added: “The additional funds, alongside the expected return to profit and positive cash generation from 2023 onwards provides Gousto with the necessary firepower to continue to innovate the category, advance its mission and invest in targeted growth initiatives.”