On-demand meal kit firm Gousto has announced it will hire 1000 new staff after celebrating its first year of profit since launching in 2012.

Revenues increased by 129 per cent to £189 million over 2020 as the startup gained market share from grocers.

Its underlying profit was £18.2 million, up from its £9.1 million loss in 2019.

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Along with doubling its workforce, the company plans to open two new warehouses in Essex and Cheshire.

“Gousto is working to unbundle the evening meal from the traditional grocery supply chain,” Gousto chief executive Timo Boldt said.

“We use software to upgrade both the supply chain and the customer experience of cooking from scratch, while riding the permanent structural shift from offline to online.

“2020 was a transformational year, but we’re only scratching the surface of the huge opportunity ahead.”

Gousto became a unicorn last November after a £25 million funding round brought its valuation over a billion dollars.