Yorkshire food producer Cranswick lifts profit expectations after bumper end of year

The company said its results were underpinned by higher volumes across all four core UK food categories including pork and poultry.

Adam Couch, CEO of Cranswick, said: “The positive momentum generated through the first half of the year continued through the third quarter.

“Trading in December was stronger than anticipated as we supported our customers in the lead up to Christmas with exemplary service levels and an innovative range of festive products.

“The passion, commitment and professionalism of our teams across the business is a key ingredient in our ongoing successful performance and, again, I would like to thank all our colleagues for their continued dedication and support.”

The firm added that its pig farming and milling operations, including the recently acquired food production firm Elsham Linc continued to contribute positively throughout the period.

On 8 January 2024 the company also signed an agreement to acquire Leeds-based Froch Foods Holdings Limited, a processor of predominantly pork and poultry related products.

The agreed transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to complete on 19 January 2024.

Cranswick added that it remains in a “robust financial position, with committed, unsecured facilities of £250 million providing comfortable headroom”.

In its announcement to the London Stock Exchange, the firm added: “Our substantial ongoing capital investment programme continues to add capacity, drive automation and deliver efficiency improvements. Investment also continues across our pig farming and feed milling operations with self-sufficiency in UK pigs over 50 per cent.”

Last year, the company began a £62m investment programme at its pork processing site on the outskirts of Hull. The firm said that while this investment has a focus on increasing automation, it will come in addition to more jobs being created at the facility, which currently employs around 1,500 people.

In November of last year, Cranswick also announced that it was set to hire almost 500 Filipino butchers after the easing post-brexit recruitment pressures.

In late 2021, the company told MPs that “each of the Cranswick sites have been affected by the widely reported skilled butcher shortage, as a result of Brexit and the lack of qualified British butchers”.

It called for improvements to the system around skilled worker visas and was subsequently able to recruit hundreds of new staff from the Philippines.

Brexit-related disruption has since been removed as a “material risk” for the firm, which employs more than 14,000 people across the country. Mr Couch said that the firm was in an improved position regarding staffing levels following the announcement.