Thatchers: Historic cider maker cheers record sales after Aldi legal battle win
Sales at family-owned cider maker Thatchers have surged to a new record as they passed the £200m mark for the first time in its 120-year history.
The Somerset-headquartered business, which was established in 1904, has reported sales of £203.9m for the 12 months to 31 August, 2024.
The new figure comes after the firm’s turnover stood at £175.2m at the end of its prior financial year.
The update also means that Thatchers has more than doubled its sales since it posted a turnover of £99.2m in 2018.
Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show that the firm’s pre-tax profit nudged up from £15.6m to £15.8m in the year.
The company said that its operating profit only increased by 3.4 per cent o £15.6m as it “absorbed input costs and continued to invest in new production facilities, its brands and people”.
The business is currently run by the fourth generation of the Thatchers family and is chaired by Martin Thatcher.
Cider maker battles rising costs
A statement signed off by the board said: “The cost-of-living crisis has continued to impact consumers and an ongoing trend towards premiumisation has seen budget brands decline, wile quality, trusted brands like Thatchers are growing in value and volume, with Thatchers outperforming the category every quarter.
“This success has not fully insulated the company from the impact of the recent economic challenges.
“Like many companies, Thatchers has ben affected by inflationary cost pressures such as rising raw material costs, increasing wage bills and additional taxes.
“This has led to significantly reduced margins, however, mindful of the cost-of-living crisis, Thatchers has worked hard to limit the impact on customers, and where possible absorbed a significant proportion of those costs.
“Additionally, the predicted increase in cider sales due with the ‘summer of sort’ was offset by poor weather conditions, with both on and off trade markets feeling the impact.
“The cider market saw a lot of change this year, with some producers moving products into the lower ABV [alcohol by volume] tier to maximise on the change in duty, and others running aggressive promotional pricing campaigns.
“Thatchers took the decision to simply remain focussed on producing great quality cider.”
During the year, the company grew its market share by 1.7 per cent, taking its total to 17.2 per cent.
It also invested £14m in the 12 months in its cider production facilities and the completion of its automated warehouse system, up from £7m.
The company has also committed to spend £24m during its current financial year on products such as a new canning line.
During the year dividends of £7m were paid out, the same as in 2023 and 2022, while the average number of people employed by Thatchers increased from 253 to 261.
Thatchers wins legal battle with Aldi
The results come a month after the Court of Appeal decided that Aldi infringed on Thatchers’ trademark with its cloudy lemon cider product.
Thatchers launched a legal battle against the German food chain in 2022, claiming that Aldi infringed its trademark by creating and selling a cloudy lemon cider similar to Thatchers’ product.
Aldi’s cloudy lemon cider, Taurus, hit shelves in May 2022.
Thatchers argued the Aldi product was highly similar to its own lemon cider. It noted the colour palette of yellows and greens and the background of creamy yellow confused customers.
However in January 2024, High Court judge Melissa Clarke ruled in Aldi’s favour, finding it did not infringe on Thatchers’ trademark.
In her ruling, she noted that there is no likelihood of confusion between the brands, it has a low degree of similarity to the trademark, and Aldi’s use did not take unfair advantage of the trademark.
Thatchers then appealed that decision, which went to the Court of Appeal in mid-December and won.