Convenience food manufacturer Greencore has reported a 7.5% increase in reported group revenue to £474.3m for the 13 weeks to December 27 – its fiscal first quarter – and said it was confident it will deliver a full year performance in line with current market expectations.
In a trading update, Greencore – the biggest pre-packed sandwich maker in the UK – said the hike came on the back of an increase in volumes and mix and the positive impact of inflation recovery and price of 3.5%.
The Dublin-headquartered, London-listed company said that revenues in its Food To Go categories rose by 7.2% to £314.7m while revenues at its Other Convenience categories increased by 8.1% to £159.6m.
Greencore said it continues to broaden its product range to serve customer and consumer preferences and it launched 102 new products across the festive season – an important time for the categories in which it operates.
But the company said it continues to face an unprecedented labour cost challenge from the UK National Living Wage and National Insurance increases which were announced out in the UK Budget.
“As highlighted in our year end update, we are committed to offsetting this in full in the following ways – manufacturing automation, operational excellence, labour planning and technology investment, alongside our usual inflation recovery measures,” the company said.
“The nature of our business is labour-intensive, and the group has been working hard to offset this cost, however given the scale of the challenge, we are also engaging in constructive dialogue with our customers to help mitigate these costs,” it added.
Greencore’s chief executive Dalton Philip said the group has made a positive start to FY25, adding that he was encouraged by the platform this provides it for the rest of the financial year.
“Our volume growth of 2.6% in the quarter again outperforms the market and is driven by both underlying volume growth and winning new business,” he said.
“This reflects a combination of the quality of our products, our commitment to innovation and the strength of our relationships with our customers,” he added.
The Greencore CEO said the company continue to make progress against each of its strategic objectives and are well positioned to continue this momentum through 2025.
“We continue to remain focused on making high quality food, enhancing our profitability, and strengthening our position as the UK’s leading convenience foods manufacturer,” he said.
“We have delivered a strong Q1 and are confident that we will deliver a full year performance in line with current market expectations,” he added.
