IRELAND – Irish multinational taste and nutrition company, Kerry, has posted a revenue rise of 13.3% totaling €4.1 billion (US$4.19 billion) for the first half of 2022.
The company said the revenue increase which represented a 15.2% organic growth overall was driven by an increased level of innovation activity and solid volume growth in both retail and foodservice channels.
The retail channel achieved excellent growth due to customers’ increased requirements for innovation support.
Furthermore, the foodservice channel delivered strong double-digit growth across all regions, supported by increased seasonal menu offerings, innovations to reduce operational complexity, and solutions designed to improve sustainability impact.
According to Kerry, overall growth across the group’s key growth platforms was strong, led by increased demand for its range of food waste solutions, with good growth across authentic taste and plant-based solutions.
Taste & Nutrition reported revenue increased by 27.5% to €3.445 billion (US$3.517B), driven by volume growth, positive pricing, favorable foreign currency impacts, and a positive contribution from acquisitions net of disposals.
In the dairy sector, the company detailed that solid overall volume growth was delivered in Dairy Ireland after managing the heightened inflationary cost environment, which had resulted in significant price increases across the business.
Within Dairy Consumer Products, most categories saw significant price increases, leading to more challenging overall volumes while in the spreads category, good performance was achieved across its customer-branded ranges.
Volumes in cheese snacking during the period were impacted by reduced promotional activity and operational issues.
Dairy Ingredients achieved good volume growth boosted by higher prices that the company imposed due to constrained global supply dynamics.
During the H1, Kerry notes that business volumes in emerging markets increased by 10.7% as robust growth in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and LATAM were partially offset by challenging conditions in China due to localized restrictions.
North and Latin Americas region reported a revenue increase of 29.1% to €1.934 billion (US$1.975 billion), driven by volume growth and contribution from acquisitions.
This was led by the beverage market, which delivered solid growth through innovations across refreshing beverages, functional beverages, tea, and coffee categories.
The sector incorporates Kerry’s authentic natural taste, Tastesense sugar reduction, and proactive nutrition technologies.
Meanwhile, the Bakery delivered strong growth with customer launches in food protection and preservation and increased LTO activity within the food service channel.
Performance in Meat and Meat Alternatives was strong across food preservation, culinary taste, and texture coating systems.
The Europe region reported increased revenue of 27.5% to €729 million (US$744 million) in the period, driven by volume growth, favorable pricing, and a positive contribution from acquisitions net of disposals.
Growth in beverages was led by refreshing beverages, tea and coffee, and low/no alcohol with launches featuring Kerry’s natural extracts, Tastesense sugar reduction technologies, and enzymes
Dairy also delivered strong growth attributed to innovations across dairy alternatives, ice cream, and desserts within the foodservice channel.
Reported revenue in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (APMEA) region increased by 26.1% to €768 million (US$784 million), driven by volume growth and contribution from acquisitions.
With this strong business outlook, the company is confident and has reaffirmed its full-year earnings guidance.
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