Heinz: Price increases help sales near £1bn as inflation battle continues

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Heinz has reported UK sales of almost £1bn for 2023. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Heinz has reported UK sales of almost £1bn for 2023. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Sales at the UK arm of Heinz jumped towards £1bn in 2023 despite volumes decreasing after raising its prices to combat inflation in its costs, new figures have revealed.

The London-headquartered division of the US giant has reported a revenue of £967.1m for the 12 months, up from the £899.7m it achieved in 2022, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.

However, despite the sales rise, volume declined by 12 per cent compared to the prior year, which Heinz said was “mainly driven by the elasticity impact in meals and sauces post price increases to offset the significant cost inflation of 18 per cent”.

Heinz added that the fall in volume was partly offset by the “extensive reinvestment in marketing and price” during the second half of 2023.

Overall, the company’s net sales value compared to 2019 increased by 29 per cent – mainly driven by price increases to offset cost inflation which has risen by 51 per cent compared to 2019.

However, Heinz also said that it is expecting to grow its net sales in the UK compared to 2023 through “volume increase from the investments in price and marketing implemented” in the second half of last year”.

The new results for Heinz also show that its pre-tax profit fell from £161m to £104.1m in 2023.

Growth on the menu for Heinz in 2024

A statement signed off by the board said: “We are continuing to see a slight inflationary trend in main commodities, notably tomato, offset partly by a robust efficiency-driven operations plan.

“This allows the company to maintain contribution market flat vs 2023 while sustaining the marketing investment levels to a new base of 2023.

“We are expecting to delver a growth in volume share mostly in meals.”

During the year the average number of people employed by Heinz increased from 415 to 473.

For the same financial year, the wider Kraft Heinz group reported a revenue of $26.6bn (£20.3bn), up from $26.4bn (£20.1bn), while its operating income rose from $1.2bn (£916.4m) to $1.3bn (£992.8m).