Major egg producer and packer Lakes Free Range Egg Company has boosted its profits after a challenging year for the egg industry.
Recent accounts to 30 October 2022 showed the major egg packer’s gross profits rose from £3m to £3.7m, with operating profit trebling from £429,000 to £1.4m.
The jump was explained as being caused by “challenging input prices in the prior year and oversupply in the market generally for part of that year impacting the prior year gross profit”.
“The company has continued to nurture strong relationships with its suppliers and negotiate beneficial contracts for its customers and the company,” it said.
Turnover also increased from £53.3m to £57.7m in the year to October 2022.
According to The Grocer data earlier this year, the UK’s top 20 egg producers and packers had a collective turnover of just over £1bn in their most recently published accounts in January, an increase of 1.4% year on year.
However, together they suffered an operating loss of £20.3m – a reversal from the £27.4m profit of the previous year.
This came as the sector contracted due to enormous pressure caused by rising input costs and dwindling margins, leaving supermarket shelves and hen houses empty.
Since these issues were reported, many retailers have invested in their egg supply chains and increased prices paid to producers by revamping their “feed trackers”, which calculate producers’ costs and generate a price for eggs, to cover more than just feed costs.
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