The maker of meat free Quorn products has hailed a large increase in market share but talked of how higher prices have pushed its business to a loss.
Marlow Foods, the Stokesley-based manufacturer of Quorn and Cauldron labels, reported a rise in revenue from £224.8m to £227.8m in 2022 as its market share was boosted from 2.6% to 32.5%. But the firm talked of changes in consumer confidence, turbulence in the global economy and inflationary pressures, particularly higher costs of energy, glucose and egg albumen.
Directors said that while new prices had been agreed, it had tried to protect its customers from the impacts, causing it to report an operating loss of £12.9m compared with operating profit of £8.7m.
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Accounts filed at Companies House, show a decision to shut down the firm’s Belasis forming plant on Teesside as well as changes to equipment cost Marlow £8.5m. The decision to move production to its Stokesley HQ resulted in the redundancy of some staff, which came at a cost of £3.2m.
But despite the challenges, CEO Marco Bertacca said the business continued to invest in innovation and new products including a premium Quorn Deli range, and vegetarian and vegan chicken products for KFC as part of its fast food supply operation. Investment of £17m in its meat substitute ranges was recognised.
Directors also said they decided to launch a Marlow Ingredients business so the brand’s mycoprotein paste could be sold externally. The paste is made using a fungus that is fermented and is being marketed to other food companies as a high in fibre, low in fat food source that takes substantially less CO2 than typical beef mince.
In a statement following publication of the accounts, Mr Bertacca said: 2022 was a year where we saw huge changes in consumer behaviour and turbulence in the global economy, but we were pleased to deliver sales growth and to consolidate our leadership in UK retail. We grew market share by 2.6% to 32.5% and made our great tasting products available in more than twenty thousand additional new points of distribution.
“However, the inflationary pressure on our input costs in 2022 also had a significant impact. We always seek to insulate our consumers from the impact of higher costs and to protect the affordability of our food where possible, but these dynamics pushed our business into a loss for the year.
“We continued to deliver successful innovation and new product launches throughout the year, including the launch of our premium Quorn Deli range. The advertising for this launch was awarded Campaign of the Year in its category by The Grocer.”
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
