Family Business: Innovation is Duerr’s sweet spot
DIVERSIFICATION and innovation are the secrets to the success of many businesses, and such values have underpinned the growth of fifth generation family business Duerrs.
Managing director Mark Duerr, who runs the south Manchester business with his brother Richard, told TheBusinessDesk that the company’s longevity is down to “passion, hard work and a bit of luck.”
The business, which has recently bought a 12,500sq ft industrial unit next to its Wythenshawe manufacturing base for use as a storage area, grew sales from £58m to £65m in the year to March 31 on the back of rising demand for peanut butter – a product it did not even manufacture 25 years ago.
Founded in 1881, the company has around 240 staff and as well as peanut butter, it makes jam, marmalade and condiments such as cranberry, tartare and apple sauce and mincemeat. It also supplies honey to Kellogg’s for its Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.
“We’re the biggest peanut butter company in the UK now – it’s an increasingly popular product now due to its high protein content, It’s around half our business now and sales were up around 8% last year,” Duerr said.
Adapting to changing consumer habits is one thing, but Duerrs has also proved to be adept at winning business from the discounters, Aldi and Lidl, whose growth has been rapid and dramartic in the last few years.
The German chains are two of Duerr’s biggest four customers, along with Sainsbury’s and Tesco.
“It has been great to work with them – they have relatively short chains of command, which means they have a speedy decision-making process, which means they are open to trying things.
“25 years ago we were over-reliant on one customer Kwik-Save, so we like to have a balance of customers.”
While Mark Duerr was responsible for the successful move into peanut, butter, it was his father Tony, the chairman, who was a major force in expanding the business.
“He inherited the business in the 1960s and then the turnover was something like £1m – with half from the Co-op and half from supplying cash-and-carrys.
“There was a policy of not supplying retailers, but Tony changed that and we have not looked back – we got into Sainsbury’s and then Kwik Save.”
Reflecting on what he sees as the ingredients for sustained success, he says: “You have to have your ear to the ground, see oportunities and grasp them.
“Family businesses can be brilliant and also be absolutely disastrous. We are very lucky we have not had interference and have been able to get on with the job.
“Richard and I are passionate and looking forward to launching some exciting new lines having invested in developing a pipeline of new products for the first time.”
