The tomato ketchup market leader here, Heinz Ireland, "squeezed" additional pre-tax profits from its Irish business last year as pre-tax profits increased by 27% to €6.079m despite inflationary pressures.
The firm, HJ Heinz Company (Ireland) Ltd, operates all Kraft Heinz brands here north and south and says that last year it increased its share of the tomato ketchup market in the Republic of Ireland by 1.5% to 59.3%.
The firm's pre-tax profits increased as revenues rose by 14% from €44.02m to €50.08m for the 53 weeks to the end of December last.
The directors state that the company grew in 2022 "due to increased pricing, distribution wins in sauces and meals, and a rebound in the foodservice and infant businesses due to the full removal of Covid restrictions which had impacted both in previous year".
They state that the grocery trade "continues to be highly competitive with a number of strong indigenous and international brands across the various sectors in which the business operates".
They also say the sectors in which the company operates "are also feeling significant inflationary pressure and the company is working collaboratively with its retail partners to help mitigate these inflationary pressures".
The directors state that increased market share for core categories including mayonnaise and wet ambient soup, were primarily driven by increased price, distribution gains that included an Aldi listing for healthy ketchup, soup multipack at Tesco, and improved feature and display in Dunnes and Tesco.
They say that the company saw its market share decline in canned beans by 1% to 33.7% and canned pasta down 1.1% to 86.7%.
The directors state that in 2023, the company is expecting to grow Ireland net sales in value on 2022 mainly driven by the consumer price increase as an action in mitigating cost inflation.
But they added that they are expecting volume to decline as a result of elasticity impact in meals and sauces slightly offset by the business's innovation range.
The US headquartered firm last year paid a dividend of €4.5m and this followed a dividend payout of €5m in 2021.
The company's operating profits reduced by 5% from €5.76m to €5.42m and interest received of €651,000 boosting company profits. This compares to interest payments of €936,000 paid out in 2021 which reduced profits.
The company recorded post tax profits of €5.2m in 2022 after incurring a corporation tax charge of €867,000.
At the end of December 31st last, the firm had accumulated profits of €6.89m.
Numbers employed increased by two to 17 as staff costs increased from €2.75m to €3.1m.
Staff costs include directors' pay of €450,000 made up of emoluments of €431,000 and pension contributions of €19,000.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
