Cheese producer eyes further growth after strong year
Wyke Farms
A historic cheese and butter producer headquartered in Somerset has posted a rise in profits, while sales have soared towards the £125m mark. The company’s managing director has also spoken to Insider about its export success and plans to the £200m-turnover mark.
Wyke Farms – which was named Manufacturer of the Year at Insider’s Made in the South West Award 2014 – has been family farming in the region for more than 160 years and also generates renewable energy.
Its range includes Somerset Cheddar, Farmhouse Buter and Worthy Farm Cheddar, which is crafted using milk from the herd that grazes Worthy Farm, home of Glastonbury Festival.
For the year to 31 March 2022, Wyke Farms Ltd reported turnover of £124.4m compared to £114.9m during the prior period.
Pre-tax profits were also up from £4.1m to £5.2m.
Speaking to Insider, managing director Richard Clothier noted that the improved performance was driven by “better sales in exports and progress in new regions”.
“It was always the plan to expand into more regions,” he added. “We’re still doing a lot in Europe and we’ve got customers in Asia, as well as interest in South America and Africa.
“We also launched our carbon neutral cheddar in the year and saw a lot of interest, so that helped to bolster sales too.”
Writing in a strategic report accompanying the results, the board said they were pleased to see such growth despite it being a “challenging period” that was “defined by cost inflation”.
“We have seen our primary raw material, milk, increase by 25 per cent through the year and this has continued beyond March 2022, with a total milk price increase of 73 per cent,” it said.
In the report, Wyke Farm also discussed its sustainability mission, adding that it had “progressed as we have worked with the Carbon Trust and Promar International to footprint our cheeses from cradle to grave”.
It also said the contribution from…
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