Irish food producer Greencore sees revenue grow by 10%
Dalton Philips, chief executive of Greencore, said the business has been “stabilised” in a “challenging market environment”.
Revenue at Irish convenience food producer Greencore grew by 10% during the last financial year to £1.9bn (€2.2bn) as the business recovered from the impact of inflation.
Overall, Greencore’s operating profit during the year increased 26.7% to £66m (€76.1m) in the year to the end of September. Group profit before tax was £45.2m (€52.2m), compared to £39.8m (€45.9m) during the previous financial year.
The company said that revenue growth was driven by a recovery of cost inflation, an increase in manufacturing volumes and a decline related to the distribution of third-party goods.
Greencore said “substantial inflation” in its main cost components led to “a low double digit percentage rate of inflation” during the year which was largely recovered or mitigated in the period.
“The largest component of inflation was in commodities across raw materials and packaging, some of which was recovered through pre-agreed recovery mechanisms in place with a number of customers,” the company said.
This was done by passing on the cost increases, implementing cost reductions, product and range reformulations, and alternative sourcing.
The company said that during the year, it manufactured 779 million sandwiches and other to-go products, 132 million chilled ready meals, 45 million chilled soups and sauces, along with 245 million jars of cooking sauces, pickles and condiments.
Revenue in the Group’s Food to Go categories - which comprises sandwiches, salads, sushi and chilled snacking - totalled £1.25bn (€1.44bn) and accounted for approximately 65% of reported revenue.
The Group’s other convenience categories saw revenue increase 14.3% to £661.1m (€762.4m).
New business contributed about 2% to Greencore’s revenue growth in 2023.
Dalton Philips, chief executive of Greencore, said the business has been “stabilised” in a “challenging market environment”.
“The Group delivered above-market volume growth, despite exiting a number of low margin contracts.. We also successfully mitigated and recovered the majority of our input cost inflation through effective operational and commercial initiatives,” Mr Philips said.
Mr Phulups added that the company is focusing on improving profitability and is investing in a “number of initiatives focused on both optimising our network and our IT infrastructure”.
“Our stronger balance sheet provides the financial flexibility to underpin this growth.”
In September, Greencore sold its vegetable oil business Trilby Trading Limited as it was no longer a core part of the company’s plans. The sale generated a net cash position of £6.1m (€7m)
The company employs 13,600 people and is one of the largest convenience food producers across Ireland and the UK.
