Strong fruit sales have helped one of the UK’s leading berry firms post a rise in pre-tax profit on a slightly upped turnover.
Winterwood – which claims that its Maidstone-based packhouse continues to be the largest soft-fruit supply site in Europe – enjoyed an increase in pre-tax profit to just under £1 million in the year to 31 March 2015, up from a profit of just over £18,000 the year before.
Turnover, meanwhile, was up by nine per cent – beating the company’s initial forecast of five per cent growth – from £32.1m to £35m. Director Steve Taylor has predicted a near 10 per cent increase on this figure in 2015-16, and noted that premium berry sales getting back on track is aiding this momentum.
Addressing the 2014-15 results, achieved in a period that saw sales growth across the category, Taylor said: “The reason for the rise is that the group performed well, particularly in selling fruit. The directors consider the year performance achieved on ordinary activities before taxation to be good when considered in the global context, and the group has again outperformed the general sector and shown consistency.”
Taylor believes Winterwood is well placed to cope with the incoming National Living Wage. He said: “With the living wage now a reality, Winterwood is bringing forward mechanisation plans as the predicted wage increases now make some options more viable than they appeared this time last year. The company believes that it is well placed to cope with the living wage increases over the coming years, as it has related companies with packhouses in Poland and South Africa, and so can shift the work to those countries as wage costs rise in the UK.”
Winterwood has played the long game with blueberries, and is now seeing its faith pay off. Taylor noted: “Seven years ago, the company had an aim to make blueberries the number-two selling soft fruit in the UK within two to three years. This target was achieved in 2011, with blueberries finally displacing raspberries as the UK’s number-two fruit.”
Blueberries now have a retail market value of around £230 million, according to Kantar Worldpanel data, while raspberries are around the £180m mark.
On top of this, in 2015, the organic blueberry market grew by 53 per cent. Winterwood farms organic blueberries in both Poland and South Africa.
No comments yet