Biscuit maker Northumbrian Fine Foods has revealed it is making investments of around €1m in the year ahead on the back of growing success of its gluten free treats.
The Gateshead firm has been producing biscuits for more than 80 years from its site in Gateshead's Team Valley and is the 海角视频’s largest gluten-free and milk-free sweet biscuit manufacturer, making supermarket own-label biscuits and brand products.
In 2018 the firm was acquired by French firm Biscuit International, a major player in the private label biscuit market which owns other companies across Europe. It in turn was acquired by Platinum Equity last February, a deal which is leading to investment and expansion at the Team Valley base.
News of investment follows the firm’s publication of accounts for 2019, which show sales grew 23% from £26.1m to £32.3m. EBITDA also increased 34% from £2.9m to £3.9m, while operating profit grew 24% from £2.032m to £2.525m.
The accounts detail how the firm had a strong year, thanks to rising sales of gluten-free and gluten biscuits, especially its own manufactured biscuits.
A geographical breakdown of turnover shows the lion’s share of sales came from the 海角视频, which also grew from £24.1m to £30.2m. European sales rose from £2.02m to £2.15m.
Headcount also rose from 236 to 245 in 2019, and 30 new jobs have been created since then on the back of growing sales.
The account’s report said sales jumped by 24% as it sought to grow its own manufactured products, resulting in a 5% lift in revenue for those products, compared to a 2% the previous year. It said the rest of the growth came from selling Biscuit International sourced products, which include waffles and cakes.
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In the report, directors said: “The directors are confident that sales and profits will grow by continuing to focus on growing product groups where the company has a commercial and technical advantage, namely the gluten-free category, plus the introduction of group products to 海角视频 retailers.”
The report adds that Platinum Equity, the new ultimate parent company “has plans to invest in both the commercial organisation to aid cross selling and in the development of the factory to achieve best in industry performance.“
Following publication of the accounts, managing director Neil McAndry said: “Northumbrian Fine Foods joined the Biscuit International Group in 2018 and since then we have been successfully transitioning the business from an independent company by being a key part of the group, focusing on our role as a ‘centre of excellence’ for free from food manufacturing.
“The 海角视频 and European free from market category as a whole continues to see double digit growth, and we directly benefit from that.
“In the 海角视频, Northumbrian Fine Foods commands a 90%+ share of the private label gluten free sweet biscuit and cookie market. We’re excited to be working with our Biscuit International Group colleagues to increase our export business too, with recent successes in both Europe and Asia where our products are now being sold as far afield as Japan and South Korea.
“Investment in new product development has always played a role in our growth, such as the launch of our Prewett’s free from ‘sandwich biscuits’ in the last year. More recently Northumbrian Fine Foods has launched vegan cookies into the 海角视频 market, responding to increased retailer and consumer demand in this category.
“We’ve continued to invest in our Gateshead manufacturing facilities and the local team we employ, installing both new biscuit depositing equipment and ancillary processes. “Looking forward, we have committed to spend over one million euros over the coming year in further improvements.
“As a result of our continued growth and success, we have offered increased employment opportunities to the locally based workforce, resulting in around 30 new jobs being created.”