Cranswick: Pig farmer pivots to bite-sized falafels as Brits embrace weight loss trend
A food conglomerate founded by pig farmers has been rewarded by its expansion into share-sized Mediterranean foods as weight-loss jabs and health kicks surge in popularity.
Cranswick was established by a group of Yorkshire pig farmers in 1972, but has since expanded into falafel and houmous with its acquisitions of Mediterranean food brands like Ramona’s and Katsouris brothers.
The FTSE 250 firm’s total operations saw revenue jump nine per cent to £3bn as pre-tax profit grew 19 per cent to £216m.
Cranswick said “exceptional” growth in its Mediterranean arm is fuelling this performance.
In 2019, the company acquired Katsouris Brothers, a Wembley-based food manufacturer specialising in Greek and Mediterranean foods like olives, feta and halloumi.
Two years later, the food firm snapped up Ramona’s Kitchen, a Watford-based producer of houmous, falafels, dips and plant-based burgers.
Brits more ‘calorie-conscious’
Cranswick’s expansion of these food brands marks an appeal to health-conscious consumers, chairman Tim Smith said.
He said: “This strategic focus continues to deliver strong performance, supported by premium own-label ranges that are growing ahead of the market.
“Innovation in healthy ranges, together with strong value propositions, is reinforcing this consumer trend.”
Smith said consumers are increasingly looking for “nutritionally balanced, calorie‑conscious diets”.
The firm is expanding capacity at its warehouses and widening its range of dips and platters, as it focuses on “sharing” and high protein products to appeal to health-conscious customers.
Cranswick said: “Across our Mediterranean Foods portfolio, innovation continues to support growth through an expanding range of premium dips, platters, hot tapas and sharing products.”
“These ranges remain well aligned to evolving consumer demand for sharing occasions, grazing formats and high-protein snacking.”
Greggs leads downsizing
A number of food manufacturers and retailers have pivoted to bite-sized and sharing ranges in recent months in response to the growing popularity of weight-suppressing drugs.
In January, the boss of bakery chain Greggs said the rise of GLP-1 drugs is “no doubt” pushing consumers to look for smaller products.
Cranswick also has a large fresh pork business, which accounts for 22.9 per cent of its revenue.
The firm said it has seen deflation in pork prices in recent years, which is offsetting strong consumer demand for the meat.
The company said it is seeing growing demand for its meat products, with poultry revenue up 13.9 per cent in the year while fresh pork sales grew by 3.7 per cent.
Cranswick’s share price jumped more than six per cent on Tuesday to 5,556p, leaving the stock up 12 per cent in the year to date.