Dairy Crest delight as 'innovation' site completed at Harper Adams University
The boss of cheese and butter specialist Dairy Crest has hailed an "exciting new chapter" for the firm after it completed work on its new innovation centre in Shropshire.
But the company also warned that it had not made as much as it had hoped from the £80 million sale of its dairies business to Muller.
In a statement covering the nine months to December 31, the company revealed that staff finally moved into the new centre at Harper Adams University near Newport in December.
The company said the link with the university will give it access to leading food and agricultural research and enhance innovation.
Dairy Crest completed the sale of its dairies business to Market Drayton-based Muller on Boxing Day.
The company said that the final amount it expects to make from the deal was just £30 million – less than the £40 to £50 million it had anticipated.
With the UK dairy industry facing problems the company continued to rack up losses in its dairies operation right up until the sale was completed.
However, chief executive Mark Allen 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.
"The outlook for the full year remains in line with our expectations."
While the dairies division struggled, Dairy Crest said its cheese and spreads brands had performed well, with its four key brands – Cathedral City, Country Life, Clover and Frylight – maintaining their sales from last year.
The volume of those products increased by two per cent.
Dairy Crest said that was a "robust performance in what remains a deflationary environment for cheese and spreads".
