Dairy Crest brands performing well
Cheese and butter maker Dairy Crest, which has its new state-of-the-art innovation centre at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, says its cheese and spreads brands performed well in a challenging market in the nine months to the end of December.
It says the outlook for the full year remains in line with expectations.
Combined sales of all four key brands of Cathedral City, Country Life, Clover and Frylight remained broadly in line with the same period last year and volumes increased by two per cent.
Production of demineralised whey powder and galacto-oligosaccharide has begun at the factory in Davidstow. These are both ingredients for the growing, global infant formula market which will give Dairy Crest access to new growth markets and customers.
Dairy Crest completed the sale of its dairies operations to Market Drayton-based Müller UK & Ireland Group in December.
Dairy Crest expects net proceeds before working capital adjustments to be around the lower end of the expected £40million to £50m.
Mark Allen, chief executive of Dairy Crest, said: "Dairy Crest is now a branded and added-value business well placed to achieve profitable and sustainable growth.
"The strength of our brands is demonstrated by their performance in a challenging, deflationary consumer environment.
"We are also entering an exciting new chapter for Dairy Crest. Our functional ingredients business will be a key part of Dairy Crest in the future, giving us access to new growth markets."
