Brands going from strength to strength

The Foods Division manufactures and sells cheese and spreads in the UK and Europe. Over 80% of this Division’s sales are branded with a strong focus on marketing and innovation.

During the year, despite challenging economic conditions, we have chosen to increase our investment in brand development, strengthening the level of advertising and promotions, and driving innovation to build our market position. Marketing value for money has been achieved by focusing on a small number of key brands, by rigorous activity evaluation, and by improved media buying.

Our investment has paid dividends, achieving share growth on Clover, Country Life, St Hubert Oméga 3, and Cathedral City; the latter reaching £214 million in consumer sales value.

Our innovation continues to centre around developing and establishing healthier products that do not compromise on taste or quality. Our portfolio now offers consumers choice in all categories, with Cathedral City Lighter, Clover Lighter and Country Life Spreadable Lighter all representing over 10% of each brand’s total sales.

We now report the financial results of our Spreads and Cheese businesses separately. Our profits in these businesses were depressed versus last year due to higher cream costs in Spreads, the absence of stock profits in Cheese, and our decision to increase investment in consumer value for money and communication.