COOK sales surge by 8.2% in December
COOK, the upmarket frozen food retailer, saw its like-for-like sales surge by 8.2% in the four weeks to 28 December. Total sales, including COOK concessions in other retailers and new store openings, were up more than 20% in the same period.
The retailer said popular items included its Stress-Free Christmas Lunch for Eight which offered a hand-prepared Christmas dinner for £100, its party food range, and gourmet dinner party food such as Beef Wellington and Double Chocolate Bombe.
Online sales more than doubled with COOK’s recently launched click-and-collect service accounting for 6% of shop sales in December. A similar proportion came through local delivery from shops.
Edward Perry, COOK founder and managing director, said: “We’ve performed strongly because of all the intelligent effort put in by people across the business. Running a vertically-integrated business – in which we make, brand, distribute and sell all our own products – means we need everyone pulling together to make it work.
Never Miss a Retail Update!“For the past three years we’ve really focused on our internal culture and getting the most from our people and I believe this Christmas is a direct result of that work. What’s really exciting is that I’m sure there’s plenty more to come.”
COOK sells its hand-prepared, frozen food from 80 branded shops nationwide and freezer concessions in more than 350 independent retailers.
Its Christmas range also helped launch a new charitable movement, One Feeds Two, which brings together food companies, feeding charities and consumers to provide school meals in some of the world’s poorest places. For every portion of the selected products sold, a school meal is provided in Malawi. Nearly 200,000 meals will be provided as a result of COOK’s strong Christmas performance.
