Record mince pies sales makes Premier Foods' Christmas

A record 220 million mince pies sold last year helped Mr Kipling cakes firm Premier Foods boost festive sales.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Jan 2018, 18:32 BST
Updated 16th Jan 2018, 18:37 BST
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Festive favourite

Premier Foods - which is also behind Ambrosia custard and Bisto gravy - reported a 4% rise in sales over its third quarter to December 30, helping overall sales rise 2.6% so far in its year to date.

Its update comes just a day after it played down speculation over plans to sell its Cup a Soup brand Batchelors.

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St Albans-based Premier said on Monday that talks had not gone beyond an “exploratory stage” following reports over the weekend that Batchelors was being readied for a £200 million sale to its biggest shareholder - Japan’s Nissin.

Premier said an extra four million mince pies sold in 2017 saw it notch up another record for the festive favourite, pushing sales of non-branded sweet treats up by 19.6% over its third quarter.

However, branded sweet treats saw sales fall 7.3%, as it said a change in marketing tactics contributed to a sales slide for Cadbury and Mr Kipling cake ranges.

It said Cadbury cake sales were also knocked in the UK by “short-term capacity constraints”.

Branded grocery sales rose 3.4% in the quarter and were 13.9% higher for its non-branded groceries thanks to some recent contract wins, including for stuffing.