Hilton Food trading in line, hails 'good progress' in European markets
Food packaging company Hilton Food said on Thursday that trading has been in line with its expectations, with good progress in a number of its European markets.
In an update for the period from 13 July to date, the company said it continued to grow the business through additional volumes, reflecting the ongoing shift to home consumption and “close cooperation” with its retail partners.
In Europe, there has been good progress in a number of markets as consumers eat out less often due to the pandemic.
Hilton said turnover in the UK is higher and driven mainly by red meat and fish volumes. In Sweden and Denmark, where the company has recently started to pack chicken, turnover has continued to grow.
In Holland, red meat volumes have risen and the group has also benefitted from vegetarian and vegan products produced by Dalco, where volumes have increased.
In Central Europe, volumes have remained “buoyant”, Hilton said, with continued volume growth in fresh food across both Tesco and Polish convenience store Zabka.
“We are also pleased to confirm that we have successfully started up the Belgium operation during the first week of October,” it said.
In Australia, it is now operating as a unified business covering the sites of Bunbury, Truganina (Victoria) and Queensland. Hilton said the tightening of Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria during the quarter led to increased home consumption and strong volume growth from its business, with the Queensland facility having also been fully rolled-out.
The development of the New Zealand facility is still on track to open in the third quarter of next year.
Hilton said its financial position remains strong and it continues to explore opportunities to invest in and to grow the business in both domestic and overseas markets.