Rise in fans of vegan lifestyle helps to give Quorn sales lift
QUORN sales have been boosted by a surge in people going vegan.
The company is targeting $1bn of annual revenues within the next 10 years and today posted half-year like-for-like sales of £112m, up 12pc on 2017.
Kevin Brennan, its chief executive, said sales of Quorn would need to rise 15pc a year to hit its ambitious goals. The slight underperformance in the six months to June was the result of currency fluctuations, he said.
Owned by Philippine conglomerate Monde Nissin, Quorn has headquarters in Stokesley, North Yorks, operates in 20 countries and employs 600 people.
Mr Brennan said: “I think the irony is that the product was almost developed ahead of its time. We’ve been around for 30 years but the demand for this kind of product 30 years ago was quite small. It has come into its own in the last five years in the UK and the world.”
Quorn also produces a vegan range alongside its more traditional vegetarian food. There has been a surge in the number of people turning to veganism, with more than half of the British population adopting “vegan buying behaviour”, according to the Vegan Society.
The number of those becoming a full-time vegan has increased fourfold in the last 10 years.
The popularity of veganism has provided Quorn with new rivals. But Mr Brennan said the competition was a good thing.
“It has been helpful is that it created a lot of noise about moving away from meat. Every vegan product we have launched in recent years has sold incredible well.”
He continued: “A lot of vegetarians like the idea of being vegan, even they can’t do it all the time. It is the aspiration of the vegetarian.”
Quorn also announced a further £7m of investment into the development of a £150m research facility at Billingham. The company claimed it will be the largest of its kind in the world and will create “hundreds of jobs” while allowing it to double production.
The company did not disclose its half-year profit figures. The mostly recently filed annual accounts – of parent Marlow Foods Limited – disclosed an annual profit before tax of £24.9m.