Frozen specialist Fullers Foods grew turnover by 30% last year in a “landmark” first full year since the company passed from family ownership to private equity.
The business grew both its core own-label offering in major supermarkets and boosted its share of foodservice and manufacturing to bring total revenues to £533m, according to its latest annual accounts to 31 January 2024.
“It’s been a landmark year for the business,” said CEO Kevin Smith, who struck a deal with the Fuller family in 2022 to purchase the company, backed by a group of private investors.
Pre-tax profits were up 40% to £38m despite “a challenging period in terms of raw material availability and high levels of inflation”, Smith added.
While Fullers has long exported food abroad, it entered the Australian market for the first time in 2023. “Expansion overseas will be a key pillar of our growth strategy,” said Smith.
It also spent £3.5m on a “state-of-the-art innovation centre” in Leeds to provide an “optimal environment for designing new products”, according to the company’s accounts.
The centre will provide space for customers to experience new innovations and for Fullers’ suppliers to showcase their own products.
Fullers Foods was founded in Leeds by fruit & veg seller Harry Fuller in 1876. By the 1960s, the group had diversified into new categories and begun distributing frozen foods to stores such as Asda.
Today, the group supplies a wide range of own-label frozen products to Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, M&S, Aldi and Co-op, as well as into foodservice.
No comments yet