Inter Link hails mince pie power

Grocer, Jan 22, 2005

Inter Link Foods reported a strong half-year performance, powered partly by doubling its mince pie production.

The company said acquiring Farmhouse Holdings for 5m [pound sterling]] and investing 2.6m [pounds sterling] in its mince pie production had doubled Inter Link's mince pie capacity. It sold 65 million mince pies in the last six months. Chief executive Paul Griffiths added: "Due to increasingly detailed information from the major retailers, we had a pretty good idea of demand over Christmas. This year was even better than last year in terms of availability."

He said that the 1.17m [pounds sterling] acquisition of Polish cake supplier Cukiemia Mistrza Jana before Christmas would provide opportunities for imports and for European expansion.

The company reported sales of 44.23m [pounds sterling] in the six months to October 30, up a third on the same period in 2003. Pre-tax profit grew by 16%, from 1.79m [pounds sterling] to 2.08m [pounds sterling]. The business aims to become the UK's second-largest cake supplier through further investment and acquisitions.