Sweet return to profit cements Burts Chips’ aim to become big contender

25-Jun-2018 - Last updated on 25-Jun-2018 at 10:45 GMT

Savoury & Sweet's portolio includes Lord Poppington and Popcorn & Me.

Popcorn company Savoury & Sweet – acquired by Burts Chips in January – has reported a healthy pre-tax profit for its latest financial year, up from a £6.4m ($8.5m) loss in 2016.

Savoury & Sweet posted a pre-tax profit of £1.6m for the year to 31 December 2017. The company’s turnover for the year increased from £7.9m ($10.5m) to £8.5m ($11.3m).

At the time of the acquisition, Burts’ MD, David Nairn, said the deal will allow Burts to diversify its artisanal potato chips portfolio in its effort “to become the UK’s biggest player within premium snacking by 2022.”

At the end of May, Burts reported a turnover of £29.5m ($39.2m) for the year to 31 December 2017, up from £24.4m ($32.4m) in the previous 12 months.

Strong recovery

A spokesman for Burts said: “While [Savoury & Sweet] was loss-making at the time of our takeover, we have already begun to implement a strong recovery plan and £7.5m of investment, which will see S&S in profit before the end of this year.”

As part of the deal, Burts took control of Savoury & Sweet’s 71,000 sqft production facility in Leicester, as well as its 103-strong workforce.

Savoury & Sweet produces popcorn and healthy snacks for household-name brands and own-label ranges, including Lord Poppington and Popcorn & Me. The company was awarded a contract with snack brand Popchips last year.

Nairn plans to rebrand Savoury & Sweet as Burts Snacks.