HelloFresh - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

HelloFresh is High Risk.

HelloFresh is High Risk. The company yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. HelloFresh embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	High Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	Medium Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	Medium Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020, HelloFresh immediately terminated a branding partnership with Lea Michele over an accusation that the actress engaged in “microaggressions” on the set of Glee several years earlier (1). HelloFresh appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its leadership composition (2).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

HelloFresh does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs. The company gives charitable donations through its LiveAid program, which donates food support to nominated families in need (1).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

HelloFresh requires its employee leads to take unconscious bias training (1). The company protects its employees against viewpoint discrimination (2). The company considers freedom of thought (“political opinion”) to be an important component of a diverse workplace (3).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

HelloFresh employs a Global DEI Officer (1). The company made a controversial Pride Month social media post that critics characterized as commercially opportunistic and inconsistent with the company’s brand positioning (2)(3)(4).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

HelloFresh donated to the Brooklyn NAACP in June 2020 (1)(2). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

HelloFresh does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).