Switzerland Bell Food Group recorded growth of 3.2% in its adjusted turnover, to 4.2 billion francs (4 billion euros), during its 2021 financial year.
Adjusted EBIT increased by 2.5% to CHF 164.5 million (€155.76 million) and annual profit by 10.0% to CHF 129.5 million (€122.6 million).
The Swiss food company attributed the performance, which it says is “its best result ever”, to its strong core business in meat and convenience products in the Swiss retail market.
In addition, the diversification of product categories and sales channels has proven to be a strategic advantage for the company.
Divisional performance
Bell Switzerland strengthened its market leadership position in the seafood category, which grew by more than 10% during the year.
Poultry and seafood have been growing steadily for many years and have been a major contributor to the division’s profitability, the company noted.
Bell International saw overall gains, particularly for organic poultry, which grew by more than 15%.
Bell Convenience saw the strongest growth in vegetarian products and fresh pasta.
Its Green Mountain brand, which offers plant-based meat alternatives, saw 25% growth.
Outlook
The company expects the impact of the coronavirus pandemic to ease in 2022.
However, he added that the markets will remain volatile and unpredictable for the foreseeable future.
CEO Lorenz Wyss commented: “It is possible that some changes triggered by the pandemic will persist and have a lasting impact on our business performance.”
The company expects Bell Convenience to resume its role as a growth engine as the effects of the pandemic begin to normalize.
Bell Switzerland will not be able to maintain the good performance of the past two years, especially if shopping tourism, which partly returned in the year under review, were to continue, the company noted.
