Growth in chocolate sales and a developing taste for real dairy ice cream in the Far East have helped a north-east confectionary brand to achieve further growth and strong profits.
Mackie’s of Scotland reported an annual turnover of £12.2million and pre-tax profits of £1.15million for the financial year ending May 31, 2017.
In total, the Aberdeenshire company’s turnover was up 1% on the previous year which it attributes, in part, to its chocolate range becoming further established – witnessing growth climb by 98%.
Mac Mackie, managing director at Mackie’s, said: “My father’s motto was always ‘no change, no chance’ – and that certainly sums up the past few years very nicely here at the farm.
“Not only has our ice cream become established in new markets, such as Korea and Taiwan, but we are making real developments south of the border – something that we hope we can continue to grow. A milestone moment has also been the launch of our first retail venture, our 19.2 parlour in Aberdeen’s celebrated Marischal Square, which is already helping us to develop new flavours and get instant feedback from customers.”
Mackie’s export sales to markets in the Far East – predominately to Taiwan and Korea – are also up 19% on the previous year. The firm claims this has set them in good stead to deliver £1m revenue in 2018.
Closer to home, the ice cream brand has experienced “significant growth” south of the border and the strengthening of its honeycomb flavour sales in Sainsbury’s – with the company’s UK wide market share growing to 6% according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Despite these developments, total turnover from ice cream sales was down 2% due mainly to the increasing price of cream which was up 250% in the year causing the firm to hold back on some promotional activity.
Although Mackie’s is cushioned from the dairy market price hikes by producing almost all of the milk it needs from its own herd, it is still required to buy a considerable volume of additional cream and warns that this is a cost which will continue to put pressure on ice cream sales.
The accounts show the company’s net assets are up £1million, and its 330 milking cows are valued at more than £500k.
Mackie’s has also invested close to £500,000 in new equipment for the fitting out of their new ice cream parlour 19.2 in Aberdeen’s Marischal Square.
The £954k operating profit has been reinvested in the company and ice cream parlour to provide future growth.
