Waitrose’s main red meat supplier Dovecote Park saw significant growth last year on the back of falling input costs, high cattle prices and strong retail demand, its latest financial results have shown.
The North Yorkshire-based beef, veal and venison supplier posted sales of £253.1m in the year to 29 September 2023, up 14.8% on the previous accounting period, according to its annual report and accounts at Companies House.
Operating profit almost doubled, rising by 93% to £6.6m, while profits after tax rose by 95.7% to just under £5m in what Dovecote’s directors described as “robust” results.
Alongside a fall in inflation during the financial year from 11.1% to 6.7%, coupled with more affordable input costs, Dovecote benefited from strong retail beef sales, despite last summer’s “disappointing” weather.
This was further bolstered by significantly higher farmgate beef prices, it said. AHDB’s GB all prime deadweight price, for example, rose by 8.4%, from 436.9p/kg to 473.6p/kg between September 2022 and 2023.
The supplier’s performance was additionally boosted by its ongoing strategy of “broadening its customer base in all channels, including retail, online and foodservice”, the accounts showed.
“We are delighted to have delivered such a strong trading performance, driven in the main by double-digit year-on-year sales growth, highlighting the industry move towards securing supply from trusted, sustainable, and reliable British privately-owned organisations with animal welfare standards at their core,” CEO Richard Canvin said.
“In parallel with our growth in sales, we invested around £5m in our two manufacturing facilities during the period, enabling us to achieve significant yield and productivity improvements which have underpinned profitability,” he added.
“We are continuing to invest in our facilities and our people to ensure that we are able to keep pace in a challenging trading environment, and these are results we can all be very proud of, and every single Dovecote Park colleague has had a part to play in helping us achieve them.”
Dovecote’s performance further strengthened its balance sheet, it said, with just over £3m in funds retained within the business, “underpinning the ability to continue with future investment”.
Looking ahead to the current financial year, the processor pointed to a continuation of tight supply keeping cattle prices “at historically high levels”.
The retail marketplace remained “intensely competitive”, it added, though Dovecote’s “broader customer spread, continuing management focus on improving factory efficiencies and further capital investment” put it in a strong position for further growth over the current accounting period.
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