The BOGOF turn-off was a factor in turning off profits at Fife vegetable company Kettle Produce.
The Cupar-based growers plunged more than £1 million into the red last year, largely due to shoppers abandoning ‘buy one get one free’ offers in supermarkets.
Company secretary Liz Waugh said in her report in the company’s accounts for the year to May 2014 that a key feature of performance was a 5% reduction in turnover year on year to £96.2m.
“This was driven by two key factors: reduced sales volumes and sales price deflation,” she said.
“Consumers are becoming more waste conscious and are buying smaller quantities more frequently rather than buying fewer large volumes.
“In addition the average selling price per kilo had reduced year on year.
“The weather conditions during the year resulted in higher yields and therefore generated good home-grown product availability. The unfortunate timing of the downturn in our traditional market resulted in crop surplus, but our sales and procurement teams worked hard to ensure we sold all excess products to various markets.”
Elaborating on the issue yesterday, she continued: “Retail sales are down across the board as consumers become much more waste conscious and inclined to buy little and often.
“This has in turn reduced appetite for promotional activity, and it would be fair to say we felt the effects during a year when good weather also led to bumper crops.
“Our response was to look outwards, and we have worked hard to establish new distribution networks at home and overseas. In many cases this also increased pressure on margins, but we ended a challenging year in a stronger position on which to build.”
She added: “Produce-based businesses such as ours need to maintain a very flexible outlook, and our management team and staff have again proven their abilities to react constructively to changing circumstances.”
Created by two Scottish farming families in the 1970s as a producer of raw vegetables, Kettle Produce remains family owned and is one of Fife’s largest employers with more than 900 members of staff.
Kettle produces 100,000 tonnes of fresh root vegetables, green vegetables and salad crops each year from its sites at Orkie near Freuchie, and Balmalcolm near Cupar.
Kettle Produce’s pre-tax profit of £914,446 in 2013 turned into a loss of £1.196m last year, and after tax became a final loss of £1.065m.
In 2003, Kettle Produce Espna SL was formed as a joint venture based in Murcia, Spain, and there are also several strategic supply partnerships with major growers in England, France, Spain and Portugal covering more than 6,000 hectares.