Greenyard’s net sales rise in the opening quarter

Greenyard has revealed that its like-for-like net sales came to €1.28bn in the first quarter of the financial year, growing 10.3 per cent.

The Belgium-based group noted that volumes had remained stable (up 0.2 per cent) through the same period.

”During this quarter, and to maintain fair value for the entire chain from consumer to grower, necessary price increases (up 10.1 per cent) were charged through in full transparency,” Greenyard stated.

“Within the global context of fruit and vegetables, inflation is one of the parameters in the total price setting. As these are pure products of nature, also yields, harvesting conditions and the availability of produce inevitability contribute to correct pricing.

”Therefore, price levels are adapted accordingly, always reflecting the actual uptick for input costs and costs for raw materials over the past periods,” it explained.

The role of healthy and nutritious food remained more relevant than ever, Greenyard said, with volumes up 4 per cent in tonnage terms when compared with pre-Covid-19 figures.

“Although Covid-19 urged consumers to look more consciously to their lifestyles and food patterns, consumption of fruit and vegetables per capita in the EU today is still well below the recommended intake of 400g per day,” the company stated.

“Together with its customers, Greenyard continues to embrace its role to act as a driving force towards healthier lifestyles and to increase the consumption of pure-plant foods.”

In Greenyard’s Fresh segment, like-for-like net sales went up from €966.1m last year to €1.05bn, an increase of 9.1 per cent.

Fresh volumes grew 0.6 per cent versus the same quarter of last year, while prices increased by 8.5 per cent.

For the full year 2023/24, Greenyard confirmed its ambition to reach €175m-€180m of adjusted EBITDA and €4.9bn of net sales.