Cook full-year profits climb by 36%
Cook increased its profits by more than a third in the year to end March as the frozen ready meals retailer continued to invest in product development and innovation.
The family-owned business saw its operating profit rise by 36% to £1.8 million while sales increased by 20% to £31.9 million.
Like-for-like sales in Cook-owned shops climbed by 7.1% as EBITDA grew by 8% to £2.6 million. In the first quarter of the current financial year, like-for-like sales increased by 3.5% with total sales ahead of budget as the retailer enjoyed strong growth across all its channels.
Commenting, founder and managing director Edward Perry said: “At Cook we continue to do things differently, making our meals by hand and using the same ingredients and techniques you would use at home. We mince all our own meat, make our own roux sauces and roll every single meatball by hand (1,600 at a time!). This relentless commitment to quality sets up apart from the supermarkets and with time poor consumers increasingly demanding nutritious and high quality convenience food, we feel well placed for continued growth.
“Product development and innovation has also been key to success, with Cook launching a range of gourmet pizzas, new ‘skinny’ lunch pots, a selection of Asian ready meals and new family meals designed to serve two adults and two children for a tenner.”
