Food Union sees 2020 sales increase
The group has seen its market grow amid challenges caused by changing markets, evolving consumer preferences and transforming distributor value chains.
“I am pleased to announce that we are on track to achieve our goal of reaching a 5% increase in sales in 2020,” said Normunds Staņēvičs, CEO of Food Union Europe.
“This is very encouraging, given the unprecedented market dynamics this year. Strategically, it’s worth noting the increase of Food Union’s ice cream market share by an average of 0.5% across markets where we sell our products. In Food Union’s core ice cream business, profit margins increased by an average of 1.8%. This is a significant outcome given the challenging times. Our group will start 2021 strongly positioned for growth.”
In 2020, Food Union operated in nine European countries, navigated shifting market demands and launched 117 new products based on local consumer insights. Food Union Europe also increased exports into South East Asia, with total exports soaring from near-zero in the first months of 2020 to €2.1m ($2.6m) in sales by the end of 2020.
“Our current position speaks to the resilience of our global business,” Staņēvičs said.
“We have emphasized flexibility and agility in responding to the current global crisis, and ensured that local market factors were central considerations in our most crucial business. Throughout 2019, the Group invested €18.8m ($22.8m) in new technologies across every part of its business and in each geographical region. “These investments were prescient and positioned Food Union to both withstand the impact of COVID-19 and to increase revenues and profitability in 2020.”
