Summit boosts Abbeydale Food Group revenues

Abbeydale Food Group has seen its revenues for the year increase to £28.8m, with turnover also rising by 18% driven by the continued growth of its Summit Foods business.

Its Summit Foods business, which provides frozen and chilled micro snacks and ‘fresher for longer’ chilled sandwiches, achieved sales of £24.3m in during the 52-week period ending 28 February, a 35% rise year on year (2020: £18m), having increased turnover by 14% in the previous financial year (2019: £15.8m).

Founded in 2010, Abbeydale Food Group has built up a portfolio of food businesses to serve food service firms, manufacturing and convenience, through to large supermarkets.

Its latest financial results comprised the operations of the group’s two remaining businesses Summit Foods and Saxon Foods, a plant-based convenience foods manufacturer which was recently acquired by Tuber Produce.

Based near Preston, Summit Foods has manufactured branded and own label products for over 25 years and employs around 400 staff.

Since acquiring the business four years ago, Abbeydale Food Group has more than doubled the company’s sales and established Summit’s ‘Snacksters’ brand as the leader in frozen snacking.

Andrew Hayes, CEO of Abbeydale Food Group, said: “While the last 18 months has been a challenging time for the food sector, as one of the innovators in the snacking sector, we have been able to continue to drive growth.

“In particular, with many food outlets closed during lockdown, our Summit Foods ‘fresher for longer’ sandwiches met a need from key workers on the move, and many of these customers are staying with the products post lockdown.”

He added: “In addition, the pandemic saw a huge renaissance in frozen food with more convenience options being taken into the sector. Many consumers turned to our frozen snacking alternatives, such as microwaveable burgers and buns, instead of their usual take-away, and, having discovered the cost saving, this trend is continuing.”