Tough conditions boost pork demand, says Hilton Food

31st Mar 2011 07:55

Shoppers reacted to tough economic conditions last year by stocking up on pork rather than more expensive meats, the meatpacker Hilton Foods said as it posted a rise in sales and profits.Pre-tax profits for the year to 2 January were up by 10.7% from the previous 53 week period to £22.2m, said Hilton, whose customers include the supermarket giant Tesco and Dutch-based Ahold. Revenues were up by 4.6% to £864.2m."Trading was strong, with good volume growth being achieved at all our facilities and across the range of territories in which Hilton operates," said chief executive Robert Watson. "During 2010 we achieved further success with new product initiatives and maintained a continuing high level of investment in our modern state of the art facilities across Europe."While volumes of meat packed were up by 9% on a comparable 52 week basis, revenues were up 6% due to an increased percentage of sales from central Europe and a higher percentage of sales of lower priced pork products."We expect volume growth to continue but the pace of economic recovery will differ across the twelve countries in which the group's customers are located," the company said."We remain well placed to benefit from any improvements in economic conditions."RG