Renshaw looks set to grow by over a quarter as the bakery ingredients supplier reported spring sales matching those of the Christmas peak.
"Our ambition is to grow the business to £50m of revenue," said commercial director Sarah Summers. "2009 was a very busy year for Renshaw. We grew revenue to nearly £38m, with a 30% increase on EBITDA through a combination of volume growth and improving our margins. We’re usually a seasonal business we’re as busy today as we were in December."
Renshaw, whose business is split evenly between manufac-turing ingredients, retail packs and wholesale/sugarcraft, has recently signed up to every major multiple. "We plan to extend the Renshaw brand into key consumer sectors," said Summers, who identified retail as a strong growth area. "There is a huge trend for home baking and crafting. More consumers are shopping in this area and, at each trip, they’re buying more products and they’re doing it more frequently, which is great news for us."
The firm, which has been decoupled from sister company, sugar supplier Napier Brown, has invested in plant and training, set up an innovation team, and developed links with research bodies to improve R&D. "We have developed sauces for the desserts sector in the last 18 months, and that has grown very strongly."
Parent Real Good Food Co also revealed a change in strategy at its recent AGM. "The key thing is that we want to be a market-led business rather than a business controlled by manufacturing or strictly controlled by its finances," said chairman Peter Totte.
As part of the implementation of that strategy, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer supplier Hayden’s Bakery said it was on track for 30% growth by the end of this year compared with 2008 and is expanding into 55,000sq ft of additional space.
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