Hull-based cake and dessert manufacturer BBF hit sales of £72.6m in its first full year of trading.
The business, which bought Greencore PLC’s desserts division in February 2018, said despite the “very challenging” bakery market, BBF continued to grow profitably.
BBF, which has a factory in Amsterdam Road in Hull, is one of the UK’s biggest cake and chilled dessert makers, and in Hull manufactures products including Christmas cakes, sponge puddings and crumbles.
Jonathan Lill, CEO at BBF, said: “This has been a highly successful and transformational year for the group and the positive figures are testament to the strong teamwork we have achieved right across the business.
“We have delivered substantial operational turnaround improvements in our recent bakery acquisition in Hull and have successfully integrated the management of the site with the existing BBF business.
"The combined group is now the largest manufacturer of own label ambient packaged cake in the UK.
“BBF continues to build on its solid platform for revenue growth with customers, both in the UK and internationally."
BBF's first full year of trading in Hull ended on June 29 this year.
The Hull division of the business hit sales of £72.6m, with gross profits of £26.8m.
The wider BBF group, headquartered in Blackburn, recorded total sales of £155.8m.
BBF has had a strong start in Hull since the business bought the former Greencore factory in the city last year.
Earlier this year, in January, BBF announced it would create new jobs in Hull after securing £40m of funding.
BBF serves all the UK’s most recognisable food retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, M&S, Aldi and Lidl.
With existing manufacturing facilities in Blackburn, Bradford and Poland, BBF now employs 2,000 people across its sites.
The wider group achieved underlying organic growth of eight per cent over the year despite the challenging market backdrop, providing strong foundations for further investment and growth in the coming years.
At the time of filing its accounts for last year, more than 850 of those people were employed in Hull.
Directors said of BBF’s first year of trading: “The company now has a solid platform for revenue growth with UK customers over the coming years, the next new contract launches in February 2020.
The ambient cake market remains in small growth in volume and value terms, and this is forecast to continue through 2021.
“Customers continue to view cake as indulgent and can fit within a balanced healthy diet and lifestyle.
BBF said in the last year, it had secured a significant two-year contract with a ‘top four’ retailer – one of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s or Morrison’s – for its celebration cake.
Looking ahead, BBF bosses said the company would continue to invest in the Hull site, to ensure it remains competitive in the market.
