HappyFresh next to reportedly make job cuts

HappyFresh is reportedly carrying out a review of its financial situation after it struggled to raise additional capital to fund its operations, Bloomberg reported. It was also alleged that some senior executives have also ceased their day-to-day duties.

The company has also halted its grocery deliveries in certain areas of Jakarta. Checks by A+M found that delivery slots in Kuala Lumpur for the stores listed on HappyFresh are all full. A+M has reached out to HappyFresh for comment.

Meanwhile, HappyFresh told Bloomberg that it has recently became aware of "new information on the company's finance" and is "currently understanding and unpacking" the financial situation of the organisation more closely. The board of directors are currently taking the lead on the restructuring exercise and the company explained that the move has resulted in HappyFresh reviewing its structure and "making certain hard but necessary decisions". It has also brought on board turnaround firm Alvarez & Marsal Holdings, which wound down Lehman Brothers about 10 years ago, to assist with the restructure.

HappyFresh has operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand bagged US$65 million in series D funding last year. VP of marketing and MD of Thailand, David Lim, told A+M previously that the company will double down on driving brand awareness in all countries using a hyperlocal strategy that speaks to the local target audience.

In February this year, it rolled out HappyFresh Supermarket to extend fresh and dry grocery accessibility by significantly growing its dark store presence in the region. CEO Guillem Segarra said back then that HappyFresh Supermarket is one step closer towards its vision of simplifying the lives of its consumers. It witnessed a month-on-month growth in users of 300% just a few months after the launch.

Nonetheless, economic challenges has also posed a stumbling block to grocery delivery services. Grab, which also has a stake in HappyFresh, decided to close its dark store operations in Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines last month in a bid to streamline its deliveries ecosystem.

Meanwhile on the marketing front, HappyFresh recently unveiled a new spot featuring disembodied legs dancing down aisles in Malaysia to promote HappyFresh Supermarket. The dance moves were choreographed by Danny Lee of 3P and in addition to starring in the film, Hullera also wrote an original composition with DJ Zigg for the HappyFresh spot. The team partnered with Imaginary Friends and Directors Think Tank, and marketing head Darren Lee explained that 24 hours in a day is practically nothing for many consumers and that informed the purpose behind this campaign - to illustrate how consumers can do their grocery shopping within minutes without any worries.

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