Booker sales soared 12% to £8.68bn in the year to 25 February, as the wholesaler was hailed as a star performer for parent company Tesco.
Announcing its preliminary results this week, Tesco said its UK, Republic of Ireland and Booker operations saw like-for-like sales growth of 4.7%, with Booker a key driver with like-for-likes of 12%.
It said catering sales were particularly strong, increasing by 35.5% in the first half as it lapped subdued demand due to pandemic-related restrictions in the prior year. Catering grew by 18.9% in the second half.
Booker’s retail sales improved by 9.9% excluding tobacco. Retail tobacco sales fell by 5.6% and Booker said its overall sales growth would have been 18.4% excluding tobacco.
Over the year it saw a net increase of 451 in the number of retail partners it supplies.
“Booker delivered its strongest year ever, helped by an outstanding catering performance as even more customers benefited from its unbeatable choice, price and service,” said Tesco CEO Ken Murphy.
Speaking to The Grocer after publishing the results, Murphy said it didn’t expect to see a reduction in the delivery fees that were imposed on Booker retailers in response to soaring fuel prices. This was despite those prices now coming down and the introduction of new fulfilment fees for suppliers selling into Booker retailers.
He said that delivery fees were still a fraction of the overall cost of an order and that because retailers were now looking harder at the impact of the fees, it was resulting in fewer deliveries and less road miles, improving efficiency for both Booker and retailers.
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