Premier Foods boosts sales of festive favourites over Christmas period
Premier Foods boosted sales over the Christmas period as customers stocked up on traditional festive food such as gravy, stuffing and mince pies.
UK sales were up 3.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 December, as Mr Kipling sales grew 10 per cent following marketing investment and new product launches.
The sale of Mr Kipling mince pies jumped 10 per cent over the period, with the company selling more than 200m mince pies during 2019.
In its grocery division, Premier Foods said sales of Paxo stuffing were “excellent” in the run up to Christmas, and Bisto gravy and Ambrosia custard also boosted sales.
Sales of the company’s non-branded products returned to growth in the third quarter, as 8.8 per cent growth in the sale of sweet treats off set a 0.8 per cent decline in grocery items.
The company said profit forecasts for the full year are unchanged and it is on track to meet its debt targets by March 2020.
Alex Whitehouse, chief executive officer, said: “Our proven branded growth model of delivering new product innovation based on consumer trends together with high quality advertising behind our major brands continues to work very well.
“In the third quarter we doubled our UK marketing investment with more to come in the fourth quarter, along with a number of new product launches including Cadbury Crème Egg choc cakes and Mr. Kipling mini pies and tarts.
“We are making good progress towards our cost savings goals and are on track to deliver £5m savings over the next 2 years to further increase investment into the branded growth model.”
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