Recipe box company Gousto has announced plans to close its Clay Lake warehouse in Lincolnshire, placing approximately 290 jobs at risk.
The company, which delivers pre-portioned ingredients and recipes directly to customers’ homes, says the closure is aimed at reducing operational costs in an increasingly competitive market.
Gousto currently splits its production between the Lincolnshire site and a second facility in Warrington, Cheshire, but is now proposing to consolidate all manufacturing at the Warrington location.
The Warrington site has received significant investment in recent years and uses advanced automation technology to expand recipe options and personalise customer orders.
That facility currently produces approximately 140 million meal kits each year and employs a team of around 600 staff.
The company argues that running two warehouses is no longer efficient and has resulted in overlapping work across both sites.
Gousto, which competes with other meal kit providers including Hello Fresh and Mindful Chef, insists it remains focused on supporting the affected workers should the plans proceed.
Timo Boldt, Gousto’s founder and chief executive, said the impact on Clay Lake workers who have “contributed enormously to Gousto’s journey over the years” makes the proposal “incredibly difficult.”
“In a highly competitive food market, it is however essential that we operate as efficiently as possible so that we can continue to invest in our proposition and keep prices as low as possible for customers,” Boldt said.
“Our focus now is on supporting people through this process with care, respect and practical help,” he added.
Boldt founded Gousto in 2012 with the mission to “build a model where food waste was no longer an issue,” and has since become a vocal critic of fast food culture.
He previously described the rise of weight loss jabs as a “depressing state of affairs” and has spoken out against food manufacturers engineering products for maximum craving.
He told City AM: “People are trying to engineer this ‘bliss point’, where they combine fat, salt and sugar to find the point where you can’t stop eating, and can’t stop shaking off the cravings.”
The proposed warehouse closure marks a significant operational shift for the business as it attempts to protect margins and remain price-competitive for its customer base.