Strong trading for Abbeydale as snacks and frozen drive sales

It said it had put in a strong financial performance with turnover rising by 18% for the year ending February 2021, driven by the continued growth of its Summit Foods business.

The group, based in Scunthorpe, saw revenues grow from £24.5m to £28.8m. Its Summit Foods business, based in Preston, the manufacturer of frozen and chilled micro snacks and ‘fresher for longer’ chilled sandwiches, saw strong sales boosted by key workers during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Also included in the financial results is its Saxon Foods division.

Abbeydale recently sold its Saxon Foods to Tuber Group​​.

Frozen and chilled micro snacks​

The company said that despite the disruption of the pandemic, Summit Foods, which is based in Preston, continued its rapid growth trajectory with products such as its frozen and chilled micro snacks.

Andrew Hayes, chief executive officer of Abbeydale Food Group, said: “While the last 18 months has been a challenging time for the food sector, as one of the innovators in the snacking sector, we have been able to continue to drive growth. In particular, with many food outlets closed during lockdown, our Summit Foods ‘fresher for longer’ sandwiches met a need from key workers on the move, and many of these customers are staying with the products post lockdown.​

“In addition, the pandemic saw a huge renaissance in frozen food with more convenience options being taken into the sector. Many consumers turned to our frozen snacking alternatives, such as microwaveable burgers and buns, instead of their usual take-away, and, having discovered the cost saving, this trend is continuing.”​

Frozen food​

This comes as Ian Stone, president and chair of the British Frozen Food Federation said that the frozen food industry had a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to grow sales and help cut carbon emissions. He said that consumers had ‘fallen in love’ with frozen food during the pandemic​​.