INSIGHTS - OCTOBER 2024

UK Food Industry

UK Food Industry Information

The food manufacturing industry links producers with consumers by processing agriculture, forestry and fishing products into food such as meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, fats and oils, milk products and grain products.

Active Businesses

14,500

Annual Sales

£119bn +

Employees

510,210

Economic Contribution 

£26bn

Tags

Location of Food Companies

Food Companies by Size

60% Micro

27% Small

6% Mid

5% Large

2% Mega

Food Companies by Age

31% Startup

28% Young

20% Established

19% Mature

2% New

Fastest Growing Food Companies

28% Declining

26% Healthy

19% High

19% Rapid

8% Low

Food Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers

Food Industry Valuation

EBITDA Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Food Industry Valuation

Turnover Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Food Industry Valuation

Net Asset Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Manufacture of food products Industry Insights

There are 14,500 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £119 billion .

The Industry employs around 510,209 people and contributes £26 billion to the economy.

The most popular location for Food companies is London with 3,369 and the fewest are located in North East England with 325.

The largest Food company is Arla Foods Limited with a turnover of £3bn. 60% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 6% Mid companies.

19% of the Food Industry is made up of 19% Mature but the majority are Startup businesses (31%) the oldest company is Wilkin & Sons Limited founded in 1888.

Food industry has a number of high growth companies (19%), the fastest growing company is Kerry Ingredients (Uk) Limited with a 3 year growth rate of 248%. Other fast growing companies include Penasul Uk Limited (154%), The Finnebrogue Bacon Company Ltd (138%) and Dogmates Ltd. (86%).

The UK Food Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 9.49x, Turnover multiple of 1.19x and a Net Asset multiple of 2.18x.