Belgian frozen chips producer Clarebout Potatoes has made huge strides last financial year, with a turnover that climbed to 1.1 billion euros and net profits that rose to 126 million. The company benefits from consumers increasingly opting for private labels.
Record figures
Clarebout is Europe’s leading frozen chips producers, and in 2022 it managed to raise its turnover by almost two thirds to 1.079 billion euros, De Rijkste Belgen reports – and that is even excluding its acquisition of croquettes producer Mydibel – itself worth 362.6 million euros in turnover and 1.1 million in net profit.
Volumes increased as consumers increasingly switched to private labels, while people also returned to eating more (fries) in restaurants after the pandemic trouble of 2021. Although the 2022 harvest was not a success due to the severe drought, the processor benefited from rising potato prices. These rose so much that even higher energy prices – and the fact that Clarebout had to import potatoes for the first time – were more than compensated. Whether the group could also shake off the increased raw material and energy prices so easily in 2023 remains to be seen.
