Food company Faccenda Group has announced a rise in pre-tax profits to £5m in 2012/13, up from £3.5m the year before. Turnover increased by £13.6m to £365m, while operating profit rose from £4.2m to £5.1m. The figures do not include results from turkey producer Cranberry Foods, which Faccenda purchased in 2012.
Managing director Andy Dawkins said the company had reaped the rewards of its transparent supply chain - After the horsegate scandal, we benefited from the attitude of the major retailers towards transparency in their poultry supply chains, our customers have been very supportive of the business model we run.
One of the toughest challenges for the company was the collapse of the rotisserie chicken market, which came under pressure from the so-called pasty tax, which added 20% VAT to prices, and feed cost inflation. This has meant a doubling of the price of a whole cooked chicken, which has led to the market shrinking by about 20-35%, said Dawkins. However, he said the volume of poultry protein consumed has remained constant, and that the company had managed to retain its volume share of the market.
Faccenda is continuing to expand its operations following its purchase of Cranberry by building a new state-of-the-art, 100,000sq ft processing facility at its