INSIGHTS - APRIL 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

14,174

Annual Sales

£113bn +

Employees

498,931

Economic Contribution 

£24bn

Tags

Location of Food Companies

Food Companies by Size

61% Micro

26% Small

6% Mid

5% Large

2% Mega

Food Companies by Age
Fastest Growing Food Companies

30% Declining

25% Healthy

18% Rapid

16% High

10% Low

Food Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers

Food Industry Valuation

EBITDA Multiple

Food Industry Valuation

Turnover Multiple

Food Industry Valuation

Net Asset Multiple

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 14,174 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £113 billion .

The Industry employs around 498,931 people and contributes £24 billion to the economy.

The most popular location for Food companies is London with 3,299 and the fewest are located in North East England with 317.

The largest Food company is Arla Foods Limited with a turnover of £3bn. 61% 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 (30%) the oldest company is Wilkin & Sons Limited founded in 1888.

Food industry has a number of high growth companies (16%), the fastest growing company is Penasul Uk Limited with a 3 year growth rate of 184%. Other fast growing companies include The Finnebrogue Bacon Company Ltd (138%), Calbee Group (Uk) Ltd (100%) and We Prepare Limited (94%).

The UK Food Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 9.30x, Turnover multiple of 1.20x and a Net Asset multiple of 2.21x.