Food technology and ingredients company Kerry Group has reported third quarter volume growth of 3.6% and said it was maintaining its constant currency adjusted earnings per share guidance of 6% to 10% growth for 2026.
In an interim management statement, Kerry said volume growth in the first nine months of the year reflected continued strong end market outperformance and further progression across each of the three regions – Europe, the Americas and APMEA.
Breaking down its regions, Kerry Group said that “strong” volume growth of 4% was reported in the Americas business, on the back of very good performances in both North America and LATAM.
Kerry said that within North America, strong growth was achieved in snacks through innovations and renovations using its range of savoury taste profiles and Tastesense salt reduction technologies, as well as new innovations with emerging and retail brands.
Within LATAM, strong growth was achieved in Mexico across Snacks and Beverage end use markets, it noted.
Strategic investments in the region included beverage taste capacity and capability enhancements in North America and progression of footprint expansion for savoury taste capabilities in Mexico, it added.
Its Europe division saw volume growth of 0.7% led by beverage, snacks and dairy.
Kerry said its Europe Beverage unit saw good growth supported by new beverage innovations and the performance of low/no alcohol solutions utilising the company’s integrated taste technologies, botanicals and Tastesense technologies.
Meanwhile, snacks delivered good growth driven by integrated savoury taste solutions, with performance in Dairy supported by good growth in taste and protein masking solutions. But it added that Meals and Bakery performance reflected “challenged” category volumes.
Meanwhile, volume growth in its APMEA division rose by 5.2% across the first nine months of the year on the back of strong growth in the Middle East and Africa, a good performance in South Asia Pacific and growth in China.
Kerry said that strong growth was achieved in dairy with enzymes and dairy taste solutions, while meat saw a strong performance through taste and texture systems across a broad range of retail and foodservice customers.
It added that volume growth in snacks was led by continued strong performance in savoury taste with leading global and regional customers, while its bakery operations also reported “good” growth.
Looking ahead, Kerry said that while recognising macro and geopolitical uncertainty, it remains strongly positioned for volume growth and margin expansion, underpinned by a good innovation and renovation pipeline.
Edmond Scanlon, Kerry’s chief executive, said that growth in the third quarter was led by good innovation activity in the foodservice channel and continued product renovation activity in the retail channel.
“From a strategic perspective, we continued to develop our business, including further investment in our taste and biotechnology-enabled solutions capacity and capabilities across our regions,” the CEO said.
“While macro and geopolitical uncertainty continue to impact market conditions, our strong end market outperformance highlights the strength and relevance of our strategic positioning across our markets, channels and customer base,” Mr Scanlon said.
“Our inbuilt business resiliency positions us well through this period, and we remain strongly positioned for volume growth and margin expansion, underpinned by a good innovation and renovation pipeline,” he added.
Shares in Kerry Group moved higher in Dublin trade today.
