Orior is to keep its ready-meals business following a review as part of the Swiss food and drink group’s strategy reset.
Last August, Orior announced it was weighing up options for Belgian-based Culinor Food Group, including a sale, under what it called at the time a “far-reaching” restructuring programme to reduce debt.
Alongside its annual results today (25 March), Orior said “all strategic options” for Culinor “were reviewed”. However, the listed company added “no value appropriate for Orior could be realised”.
An Orior spokesperson confirmed with Just Food that those comments related to approaches received for the ready-meals business, which will now stay within the group.
“Culinor and its portfolio of high-quality fresh meals and meal components fit very well with the Orior Group’s strategic realignment,” which, the company said in the earnings statement, will be targeted at “sustainable, profitable growth”.
Orior acquired the Culinor retail and foodservice business in 2016.
The reset was prompted by what Orior called a “tough market environment” in 2025, when organic sales revenue fell 1.5% to SFr622.9m ($789.6m). Despite the decline, the performance was better than the 2-4% drop anticipated.
Net profit rebounded to SFr9.3m from a SFr35.1m loss a year earlier.
Orior’s international division, which includes Culinor along with Casualfood, Gesa and Spiess Europe, generated sales of SFr197.9m, down 1.3%.
In the convenience section, which features the Fredag, Le Patron, Pastinella and Biotta businesses, sales decreased 4.5% to SFr200.1m.
Pastinella is the pasta business that also includes Pastificio Gaetarelli in which Orior increased its stake this month to take full ownership.
Elsewhere in today’s results, Orior’s refinement segment comprising Rapelli, Albert Spiess and Möfag, posted 2.2% organic sales growth to SFr248.1m.
Group-wise, Orior said it expects to “return to organic revenue growth in the medium term” as part of its outlook.
The company also set a medium-term target to grow its adjusted EBITDA margin to around 7.5% and to reduce its debt leverage below three times.
Last year, EBITDA almost doubled to SFr42.9m from SFr22.5m. The margin increased 340 basis points to 6.9% and on an adjusted basis edged up to 6.3% from 6.2%.
For fiscal 2026, Orior has guided to a further decline in organic sales of 3-6% and an adjusted EBITDA margin in a range of 6.3% to 6.6%.
Meanwhile, Orior lowered its debt in 2025 by SFr29.1m to SFr152.3m. The net-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio fell to 3.9 from 4.6.
The company said it continued to experience a “challenging phase” in Swiss retail, including raising prices to offset higher commodity costs. It also lost a “major contract” with a Dutch retail customer.
However, Orior said “several major contracts” were won in Switzerland and Belgium.
