Food Union Group, one of Europe’s leading ice cream and dairy-producing groups, ended 2019 with a strong performance, amounting to EUR277m in net revenue and a gross profit of EUR104m. The Group committed capital investments of EUR18.8m to support its long-term plans.
In 2019, unpredictable and unfavorable weather conditions impacted sales, however, the year was also marked by record investments in production facilities, equipment, machinery, and fixtures, as well as a car fleet. 2019 marked the highest investment in the last five years and double the average investment of the previous two years.
“We actively invested in long-term growth for our leading market brands to meet growing demand. We focused on enhancing production capabilities and poured energy into modern technologies to improve production capacity and ensure the highest quality product. This will give us an ongoing competitive edge as we continue to push the boundaries of innovation and create new products that delight consumers,” Normunds Staņēvičs, CEO of Food Union, Europe said.
Food Union Group also strengthened its position across the dairy industry in 2019. The Group is the leading ice cream company in the Baltics, as well as a strong regional player in Northern and South-Eastern Europe. The Group’s 2019 net revenue relied on two key products: ice cream products at nearly 60% of the total revenues and dairy at almost 30%. Other products, such as frozen food and pastry, formed about 10% of the total revenue.
Even though ice cream sales were impacted by cold and wet conditions in the summer, additional food products such as dairy, pastry, convenience, and frozen foods achieved very good results. The Group also put considerable focus on modernizing trade across all its markets. It successfully entered new retail chains, as well as achieved enhanced listings on national and regional levels, leading to EUR163m in ice-cream generated net revenues in 2019, which is only a 1.8% decrease from 2018. The dairy segment was stable with close to EUR81.8m net revenue. Frozen food dropped by 8.3% (EUR22m net revenue), while pastry grew by 11.3%, posting net revenue of more than EUR5.8m.