UK cake maker Finsbury Food Group has focused on improving efficiency in order to offset lower sales and higher costs, while also increasing its investment in product development and marketing, the group’s MD and chief executive told just-food this afternoon (23 March).
The company said today (23 March) that profits before tax totalled GBP1.8m (US$2.7m) for the six months to 2 January, unchanged from the comparable period of last year. However, sales fell 7% as demand for premium products fell.
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Speaking to just-food, CEO John Duffy said that the group had worked to strip costs out of the business in order to offset lower sales, the weak sterling and rising ingredients costs.
“We are trying to buy better where we can. We have worked to reduce waste and improve labour and line productivity,” he revealed.
“We have seen a step change in efficiency because we were a collection of smaller companies that came together. But it will be a lot harder work from here on in,” he warned.
The company, which produces cakes for retailers as well as under its own brands, has struggled as demand for premium products waned during the recession.
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By GlobalDataIn order to counteract this, Duffy said that Finsbury is focusing on increased marketing and product development.
“We’ve got to focus on more marketing category management. We are doing a lot around product development,” he said.
However, Duffy added: “The big unknown is the economy.”
