Moy Park sales down, profit up; Samworth Brothers suffers loss

Poultry processor Moy Park​

For the year ended 31 December 2020, Moy Park reported sales down 7.7% to £1.5bn compared to the previous year, but group operating profit up 15.3% to £86.2m. In its financial review, the company stated this was 'a performance underpinned by a strategy of unrelenting focus on cost control, excellent customer relationships and a culture of constant innovation'.

The company said it had invested £56m in its infrastructure across the year and increased the value of its net assets by 23%.

It had reduced food waste by 1,000 tonnes and launched its Moy Park Community Fund, investing £1m in community projects.

Last month, the business announced it had become the first UK food business to receive the globally-recognised Chain of Custody Standard from the Round Table on Sustainable Soy Association​. ​

Chilled food manufacturer Samworth Brothers​

For the year ended 2 January 2021, Samworth Brothers said its revenue had been hit from exiting its desserts business and the collapse of food-to-go sales as a result of pandemic lockdowns. Sales fell by 3.9% to £904.8m compared to the previous year, while the company moved from an operating profit of £37.9m for continuing operations to an operating loss of £8m.

The business invested £17.6m of capital expenditure in its plant-based food production capacity, its dedicated supply chain fleet and automation in food-to-go production.

In its strategic review, the company said it had repurposed its Brooksby Foods facility over summer 2021 from a meals business into a dedicated plant-based facility. "Most of Brooksby's product range was transferred to our other meal sites, Saladworks and Kettleby Foods, and we invested in equipment, technical know-how and training at Brooksby to create a new plant-based business that we have called Revolution Kitchen.​

"As part of this change, it was necessary, sadly, to reduce the number of colleagues who worked at the Brooksby site. Colleagues were consulted​​ with and given full support and many were redeployed to other businesses within the company."​

In December, the company became the majority shareholder in Higgidy, with a 62.9% share. It aims to buy the remaining shares in the current financial year.

In terms of progress on reducing its environmental impact, Samworth Brothers said it had reduced its overall carbon emissions from 53,530 tonnes/CO₂​ to 50,230 tonnes/CO₂​ across the year