Nationwide Produce hoping for a more fruitful year

NATIONWIDE Produce, the family-owned grower and seller of vegetables and salad products saw sales and profits hit during a “glut year” which saw massive oversupply and a plunge in prices.

The Southport company which was founded in 1975 by Bernard O’Malley and is now run by his sons, was this year ranked in the International Track 200 – making it among the UK’s fastest growing exporters.

It said a “difficult year” had been compounded by the e.coli cucumber crisis  health scare in Germany, which had a “catastrophic impact” on consumer confidence and therefore sales and prices of greenhouse crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

Financial results for Nationwide Produce Holdings for the year to May 25 2012 showed a “disappointing” 17% fall in sales from £74.2m to £61.6m, director Anthony O’Malley said in his business review of the year.

Profits in the year were down 12.3% to £703,792, sparking a 30% reduction in dividends and a 43% cut in bonuses.

He said the prices of root crops such as onions had been particularly hard hit during the glut year, with average prices for large onions falling from £252 per metric tonne in 2010/11 to just £97 per metric tonne during the year – nearly half the £180 per metric tonne cost of production.

In the early part of the current financial year Mr O’Malley said there are encouraging signs that a better year is on the cards.

“Prices and demand are already notably stronger than last year. Turnover for the first two months of this financial year (to July 26)  is up 15.8%. Gross profit for the same period is up markedly by 35.2% on last year.”