DTC’s Daily Digest brings you the latest news on the world’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer and challenger brands. In today’s edition: Amazon offers Deliveroo a loan; Graze pledges to slash plastic use; HelloFresh stock jumps 14%. 

Amazon offers Deliveroo a loan amidst UK funding investigation

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK froze a USD$575m (£770m) investment round into Deliveroo in May 2019. With the threat of the food delivery company running low on cash, Amazon has offered to bail it out, while the initial investment remains under investigation. The CMA chose to freeze the initial funding because on the grounds that Amazon’s bid to buy a minority holding in Deliveroo has the potential to damage competition in the restaurant and grocery delivery industry. The CMA is conducting an in-depth investigation of Amazon’s USD$500m (£385m) investment and will rule on the deal by 11 June, 2019. If the CMA approves the deal, Amazon's loan will be converted into equity.

Graze pledges to slash plastic use

Healthy snacking brand Graze has pledged to slash plastic use by up  to 80% over the next two years. The Unilever-owned company has been working with third  parties on creating innovations over the past 10 months, with the intention of producing a paper-based punnet, to replace the current 100% recyclable plastic punnet, which is made from 50% recycled materials. Once finalised, the brand intends to trial the new packaging with its direct-to-consumer customers, before it lands on store shelves in mid-2020. The brand intends to introduce a paper-based punnet later this year, replacing the current 100% recyclable plastic version made from 50% recycled materials. Graze will then roll out further developments by 2021, ultimately removing plastic from its entire supply chain.

HelloFresh stock jumps 14%

HelloFresh's stock jumped as much as 14% after it announced preliminary 2019 results beat expectations. The German company, floated on Xetra, saw shares hit shares earlier touched 23.60 euros, the biggest intraday gain since its last financial report in October 2019. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in between €45m (£38m) to €48m (£41m), up to 117% higher than the average €22.1m  (£18.8m) estimate from analysts. Hellofresh's consistently better-than-expected earnings have helped it to more than triple its share price in 2019. The global meal-kit delivery service market is expected to grow to USD$8.94bn by 2025, which huge growth potential in Europe.