How Navan revolutionised business travel at HelloFresh

Headquartered in the heart of Berlin, HelloFresh is a global food company with 14,000 employees in 18 locations worldwide. Back in 2011, HelloFresh set out to change the way people eat with farm-fresh, home-delivered meal kits.

As the company expanded rapidly, it soon outgrew its previous travel process. The global mobility team worked late hours managing trips for employees across multiple time zones. It was clear a change was necessary.

Before Navan

HelloFresh used to manage business travel with travel management company American Express Global Business Travel, which required the two in-house travel managers to manually book all trips and be available for changes around the clock. 

"It was really chaotic,” says Renato Bianucci, Global Mobility and Travel Manager at HelloFresh, who remembers working until 10pm to confirm bookings for employees in other time zones.

The manual processes weren’t scalable, there were endless invoices to be chased, and there was no oversight in the platform over how much money was spent on business travel. 

"As the company expanded rapidly, it became clear that our existing process couldn't keep up. Managing global travel for a growing international workforce from Berlin was unsustainable. We knew we had to rethink our approach entirely to find a viable solution,” Renato says.

Why HelloFresh chose Navan

Transparency

A key reason HelloFresh switched to Navan was its extensive reporting capabilities.

Previously, it would take Renato and his team up to a day to pull the data for reports on the state of the company’s travel programme. Now, they can monitor travel spend in real time and create comprehensive reports with the push of a button.

Scalability

At a scaling company, being able to effectively process HR data for new joiners and existing employees is key. 

That’s why HelloFresh sought a tool that could automatically add users from Workday, its HR system, to the new travel platform and sync all travel data to the right entity and cost centre. Navan’s API with Workday achieves this, saving Renato from manually inputting data and eliminating the risk of human error.

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"We wanted a tool that employees enjoy using. And Navan is just that."

Renato Bianucci

Global Mobility and Travel Manager

Traveller experience

HelloFresh also sought to give its travellers a superior user experience. The previous travel process was clunky and Renato recognised his team had to "change the game." To do this, he says, "we wanted a tool that employees enjoy using. And Navan is just that."

The Navan effect

Navan's seamless onboarding process has fundamentally changed travel management at HelloFresh.

Data-driven travel management 

From a strategic point of view, the comprehensive data Navan provides is invaluable, as Michali Henig, Head of Global Travel and Mobility says: "Before Navan, we only understood anecdotally where travellers were going, but not through data. Now we know everything about travel."

Using this high-quality data, the HelloFresh global mobility and travel team gets all the insights it needs to optimise the company’s travel programme. "We can gather meaningful learnings from Navan’s reporting, for example, when it comes to traveller behaviour. We understand where the money is spent and how we can reduce our costs," says Michali. 

One example is how Navan’s in-depth reporting uncovered the opportunity for savings if bookings were made further in advance of a trip. "We were able to communicate the value of booking travel as soon as possible," Michali says. 

"This has led to an increase in lead time and a decrease in costs."

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"The management team is really impressed by the quality of the reports I’m now able to provide – and I do it all within just 10 minutes."

Renato Bianucci

Global Mobility and Travel Manager

Happy travellers

With Navan, HelloFresh travellers now easily plan, book, and change trips themselves through the platform, which saves time and allows for more flexibility and personalisation.

"Our employees really enjoy using the tool. We always receive positive feedback," says Renato. This is reflected in a customer satisfaction (CSAT) rating of 4.7/5. 

When booking, the platform's integrated dynamic policies clearly show users what they can and can’t book. 

Michali loves that "Navan helps you understand everything about a trip. As a traveller, you can’t make mistakes."

In case of travel disruptions, travellers have access to all their booking details and can contact the chat support 24/7, directly in the Navan app. 

Thanks to Navan Travel Payments, employees also don’t have to pay for their trips out of pocket. Behind the scenes, the platform automatically generates a virtual credit card for every booking, which saves time during the checkout process and takes the financial burden off the travellers. "It’s a better experience all round," Michali says.

As a traveller, Michali likes the trip reminders that include all relevant travel information and tickets. "I don’t have to search through hundreds of emails anymore. Everything I need is right there."

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"Navan revolutionised the way business travel is handled at HelloFresh. From budget tracking, policy compliance, a streamlined booking process, and exhaustive real-time reporting — Navan made everything better."

Michali Henig

Head of Global Travel and Mobility

Operational efficiency

With Navan, Renato’s day-to-day tasks got a reset. The fact that travellers now book for themselves, with the approval of their managers, saves him countless hours.

The previous back and forth via email, which was cumbersome for everyone involved, has been replaced by a seamless experience for the employees – and himself. "I couldn’t count the amount of hours I’m saving with Navan. All my work has changed," he says.

Now, Renato finally has time to focus on strategic tasks and the optimisation of the overall travel programme. 

What’s more, with Navan Travel Payments streamlining the process at HelloFresh, the mobility team no longer handles reimbursements manually and the number of invoices to chase has dropped dramatically.

When asked what she likes best about Navan, Michali’s reply speaks volumes.

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"I like that Navan just works. It’s the perfect solution for us!"

Michali Henig

Head of Travel and Mobility

Sustainability 

From its commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), to helping eliminate food waste and developing innovative recyclable packaging — sustainability plays a vital role in HelloFresh’s entire business, including corporate travel.

In addition to the real-time data and reports that Navan provides for all travel-related CO2 emissions, the platform offers a range of features that help reduce the environmental impact of the company’s travel programme.

One of them is the rail alternative pop-up, which both Michali and Renato consider one of their favourite features. 

“When I was looking for a flight from Berlin to Amsterdam, I got a prompt asking if I wanted to take the train instead. That really made me question if flying made sense on this route,” Michali says.

This ‘green nudging’ helps travellers understand the impact their individual booking decisions have and ultimately contributes to HelloFresh achieving its sustainability goals.

Looking ahead: equipped for future growth

Navan has given HelloFresh all the ingredients it needs for travel management success, and the company is now focused on fine tuning its travel recipe.

“We’re using the granular data Navan provides to focus on what’s best for the business, and further enhance our travel programme in terms of cost effectiveness and sustainability,” Renato says.

Equipped with the data insights it needs and a travel platform that employees enjoy using, Michali and Renato are fully confident that Navan is the perfect partner for the long term.