Solid year for essential farming retailer
WESTCOUNTRY agricultural firm Mole Valley Farmers has successfully weathered the unparalleled trading conditions brought about by the Covid-19 crisis.
Thanks to its status as an ‘essential business’, the South Molton-based cooperative traded throughout the course of the pandemic, ensuring farmer members and customers were able to access a variety of key goods and services.
Publishing its annual accounts for the year ending September 30, 2020, fuel sales rose by 1.4 million litres on the year before. But significant price deflation as a result of the pandemic, coupled with lower fertiliser sales, meant the group’s revenue was down 4% on the year to £473 million.
However, group operating profit was £2.9 million - putting the firm, one of the South West’s biggest employers, in a good position to look forward with confidence.
Jack Cordery, chief executive of Mole Valley Farmers, explained: “Throughout all that we faced in 2019/20, we have continued to invest in people, infrastructure, innovation and cost efficiency, whilst remaining closely aligned with our core values and sense of purpose. What drives us every single day is helping our farmer shareholders to improve their on-farm profitability, productivity and sustainability, whilst creating a competitive pricing environment.”
Mole Valley’s continued relevance to its 9,000 farmer shareholders was reflected in the fact that sales of core agriculture products represented 74% of annual turnover, whilst the number of active member accounts grew by 9.4%. A sum of £1.8 million was returned to members as a result of point of sale discounts.
During the year, new products and services were developed as part of an ongoing strategy to help farmers understand and reduce their impact on the environment. This included integrating nitrogen and methane output into Mole Valley Farmers’ Precision Nutrition feed rationing programme.
The retail arm of the business also adapted rapidly to increased demand and changing shopping habits, with the development of a ‘Call and Collect’ service and new e-commerce trading platform, moleonline.com. Although the number of in-store transactions reduced on the year, average basket spend was up 6% - meaning retail revenues grew by 2% for the year.