Dairy group hits sour note as profits and revenues decline

Meadow Foods, the Chester-based independent dairies and supplier of value added ingredients to the food industry, has reported lower revenues and profits for the year to March 31.

The business made a pre-tax profit of £24.3m, down from £25.6m in 2019, on a turnover of £429m, compared with £456m the previous year.

During the reporting period the business continued to focus on developing its product range for new and existing customers.

This was supported by the start of a £4.5m investment in its factory in Peterborough as well as the first stages of investment into a segregated facility for plant-based ingredients at its head office in Chester.

Chief executive, Mark Chantler, said: “The business continues to perform well in a challenging marketplace.

“As a leading supplier of value added ingredients we have focused on both investing in optimising our sites and diversifying our product range, most notably with the addition of plant-based ingredients to the portfolio.

“We continue to place our customers’ needs and growth aspirations at the heart of what we do.”

Meadow Foods operates from four BRC AA-accredited sites in Chester, Peterborough, Holme-on-Spalding Moor and Dolgellau where it manufactures value added ingredients for some of the UK’s best known food manufacturers.

The company currently employs more than 430 people and handles in excess of 550 million litres of milk each year direct from its network of dedicated milk producers across the UK.