Sweet Christmas in prospect for Good Food Co

The Group – which owns Napier Brown, Europe's largest independent non-refining sugar distributor; supplies bakery ingredients through its subsidiary Renshaw; and manufactures patisserie and desserts from Haydens Bakery – said it had seen substantial improvement in the prospects for the sugar business, strong sales growth at Renshaw and further trading progress at Haydens. The sugar business was now seeing strong growth, as a global shortage in supply had driven prices to a 30 year high. Renshaw was having an exceptionally good year, with substantial sales growth in both its home and its export markets. At Haydens, a new management team continued to implement a turn-around plan for the business and sales growth remained on budget in the run-up to the all-important pre-Christmas trading period. Chairman Pieter Totté (pictured) commented: "Our three businesses have each made great strides during the year towards achieving our vision for their successful and profitable future growth. Dramatic changes to the world sugar market point to significant prospects at Napier Brown, Renshaw is successfully exploiting new markets while Haydens has secured the space to expand and modernise its business. We anticipate a strong Christmas trading period, are on track to meet forecasts for the current year, and look forward to significant growth in the coming year."