Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST sandwich maker wants to become a “billion-dollar business” in the US as it unveiled plans to build a new factory on the country’s west coast.
Dublin-headquartered Greencore, which was set up in 1991 when the Irish government floated its state-owned sugar business, today announced it turned over £1.27 billion (€1.6 billion) in the year to late September.
The figure was up 6.4% on last year’s total and the company’s operating profit also increased 11.4% to £82.9 million (€104.5 million) despite the ongoing fallout from last year’s horse-meat scandal.
The company owns 44% of the sandwich market in the UK and supplies to chains including Tesco and Marks & Spencer, but it is in the US where the firm is stepping up its expansion plans.
Greencore today announced it was setting up its first facility on the country’s west coast to add to factories it already runs from Florida, to Salt Lake City and Minneapolis.
The factory will be in Seattle where the head office for one of its two major US sandwich customers, Starbucks, is also based.
A billion-dollar business to be had
Greencore chief executive Patrick Coveney, the brother of Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, said the company was “in the race to have a billion-dollar business within a couple of years” in the US.
We are in the middle of a very rapid scaling of our business, in terms of big projects happening currently,” he said.
But Coveney added there were risks in either expanding too fast or going too slowly and missing opportunities in the fast-growing “food-to-go” market.
Between 2013 and 2014 it said the total sandwich market in the UK grew about 10% and the food-to-go market grew 5%, compared the turnover for other food products like groceries which shrank 1.3% across the board.
Greencore also makes Weight Watchers meals, sandwiches and sauces under license in the UK, and it ships food to a number of convenience-store chains including 7-Eleven in the US.
The 2013 horse-meat scandal
Last year its reputation took a hit after a test showed traces of horse meat in one of the prepared beef meals it was making for UK supermarket chain Asda.
Further tests on the same batch produced negative results, while an audit of its beef supplier, Irish firm ABP Food Group, also showed there was no contamination in its food chain.
In 2009 Greencore sold its remaining interest in sugar business SugarPartners to joint venture partner Nordzucker, paving the way for the German firm to take ownership of brands which include the Siúcra label.
Originally published at 10.07am
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
A long way from the humble sugar beet they are now…..good luck to them in their ventures….
mcgoo, too many questions remain to be answered about the goings on at Irish Sugar for them to deserve the goodwill of the Irish people.
Golden ticket ????….Tax through Luxembourg or somewhere …it’s kinda like Irish Water – once owned by all the people —-
Simonbilderberg monsanto loving coveney’s brother. Simon Coveney voted against the eu on Monsantos behalf last summer when they tried to ban bee killing pesticides. Monsanto also makes and sells seeds that don’t need bees to reproduce. No bees means more profit for monsanto as we have to eat something.
Thankfully the ban passed despite Coveney and hours crooked backers. Greencore, the coveney family business are up to their ears in monsanto and bayer provisional agreements in dispensing neonicotinoid pesticides that kill bees. No doubt they’ll get the main contract if their monstrous seeds are allowed here.
Simon coveney everybody and korrupt evil ireland.
Shocking to hear that. I’m convinced Monsanto are the most evil corp in the world. It appears their business model is simply how to make money through the distraction of people earth and bio systems.
Henry that what I wanted to say.
Finished off the sugar beet industry in ireland costing 1000s of jobs in farming and the haulage sectors has also ruined crop rotation. Making sandwichs in the U.S a fat lot of f@#k that is to the Irish people. The very best of bad luck to em.
Sugar beet subsidies you mean.
It’s pretty useful for Irish Shareholders of Greencore.
Also, it was the Govt who ended the subsidy for beat farmers owing to EU rules on same and said farmers accepted €60m in compensation for it.
Jaysus farming is great isn’t it.
“Look we’ve been buying sugar from you guys for years even though it’s much cheaper to get it elsewhere. We’ve also been giving you subsidies for the last 30 years. Well we are going to stop giving you the subsidies because this is pretty clearly a joke at this stage.
But don’t worry have 60 million of taxpayers money as a payoff for being tremendously uncompetitive.”
There was never a sugar industry in Ireland, it always relied on subsidies to make it work.
Well maybe they’ll use Irish butter on them sambos. See it as an opportunity if you’re in that game?
David – everyone that lost their job now rely on subsidies not to work – ye capitalists miss that bit even when it takes subsidies to pay bin workers that are privatised and then have their wages reduced below “family wage” …but work away David – Time and tide and all that !
Well said Dermot. Some people haven’t got a clue.
What subsidy does your local carpenter get?
If he can’t make money being a carpenter can he get a payment from the government for prices being too low? To bring down the cost of carpentry for us consumer you see. 12 grand a year for the rest of his life would do nicely.
For consumers you see.
Yes he can – It’s called family income supplement …..
Imagine, this was once a public company.
Public investment to make fortunes for political cronies, Ray Mc Sharry’s daughter is also a director of Greencore.
The governments job is not private industry. It was made successful by the private sector
Nobody is claiming government should be involved in private enterprise but when a public company and it’s infrastructure are sold for a knockdown price and subsequently emerges under the control of political cronies, the public is entitled to ask questions.
It wasn’t sold for a knockdown price though was it…
David, were you in school with Jon Snow?
was it sold at all David ? …It got 100 million warchest from the E.U. and all we know since is Shenanigans …..
It is a public company, listed on the LSE. I think you are confusing a PLC with a Semi-State.
Brid – do you know anything about the Golden Ticket ?
Simon should not be Minister for Ag while his brother has that job.
Why?
Conflict of interest for the Minister???
How?
One word replies – seriously?
Its’ a bit of a silly claim.
Your assuming that he even likes his brother.
*You’re
That’s funny Neal – greed and intellectual arrogance are always an attraction between one simple mind and another
Making a play for US stomachs eh?
Plenty of room for expansion there : )
ahh lads could ya not get a 2nd pic without the date(2010 agm) in it
I don’t like the fact the coveny brothers are so closely linked in roles that could be exploited but why would one have to suffer(career wise). I vote to ‘promote’ simon out of agriculture…or out of gov
@davidburke you do realise that subsidies are the reason you can toddle down to tescos for top quality produce for low prices driven by the large supermarket chains making huge profits by squeezing farmers and ultimately squeezing you the tax payer funding subsidies just to make farming viable.
have your say