Drinks brand increases profits as it heads for TV appearances
Belvoir Farm, based in Bottesford, Leicestershire, has posted increased profits during 2020, according to newly-publushed annual accounts.
The firm says it is launching a range of marketing initiatives to support the growth of its soft drinks brand during summer 2021. The business is also raising awareness of its unique Elderflower Harvest in May and June, starting with an appearance on national TV on ITV 4 Made In Britain. The brand’s annual accounts show a small reduction in turnover, due to the coronavirus impact on sales.
Elderflower inspired the first drink Belvoir created over 35 years ago and its signature cordial is still made to the same traditional family recipe to this day. Now, with a total of 23 soft drinks, including 11 cordials, the company has seen demand for its cordials soar during lockdown as consumers have looked to hit their daily hydration targets in more tasty ways.
Belvoir Farm claims it is now the UK’s fastest-growing premium cordial brand, increasing both volume and value sales ahead of the market. As consumers tap into the health benefits of ginger, Belvoir’s classic Ginger Cordial is now also the biggest ginger flavoured cordial and the fastest growing at 29% in value.
Pev Manners, Belvoir Farm managing director, said: “2020 certainly was a rollercoaster of a year, and once we’d secured the safety of our staff and local community, we could then make sure we were still delivering for people at home. We made sure we were providing the perfect Belvoir experience, even if people couldn’t leave the home. Our cordials were a big hit, but also we expanded our canned range for when people were allowed to meet or spend time outside.
“There’s a real movement to reconnect with nature and choose natural ingredients now and we’ve been working with nature, supporting sustainable farming and respecting the countryside and its complex eco-systems.
“We’re looking forward to people experiencing our whole range now hospitality is opening up and we have some exciting new launches planned.”
Belvoir was set up by John Manners 30 years ago, who sold 88 cases of elderflower cordial in his first year of trading. The family-owned business now run by his son, Pev, still continues with the artisanal way of making the drinks yet manages to produce up to 20,000 bottles an hour and almost 25 million bottles each year at the company’s modern bottling plant in Leicestershire, which are sold across the UK and exported around the world.
