Pilgrim’s Europe posts strong performance driven by branded and retail-focused strategy

Pilgrim’s Europe’s has released its consolidated FY24 results showing strong financial performance in the first full-year trading period since the integration of Pilgrim’s UK, Moy Park, and Pilgrim’s Food Masters into the unified Pilgrim’s Europe structure.

Despite revenues easing slightly to £4.06bn (down from £4.18bn), the leading UK private label grocery supplier reported profitable growth to £128.4m after tax (up from £106m in 2023) and further strengthened profit margin, which rose from 4.2% in 2023 to 6% in 2024. The strong performance was supported by investment in its brands and infrastructure throughout the year, driving efficiencies and enhancing mix while helping customers outperform sections of the market.

Pilgrim’s Europe President Ivan Siqueira said “the results demonstrate how integration over the past two years has strengthened Pilgrim’s Europe’s marketplace presence while cultivating a more nimble, customer-focused organisation to further scale profitable growth in 2025 and beyond.”

He added: “We’re proud to deliver a strong performance in our first full year as Pilgrim’s Europe. We’ve cultivated profitable growth by simplifying our structure, optimising our footprint, and investing behind our brands. The combination of innovation, deep customer partnerships and a growing branded offer has helped us outperform the market in several key categories. Thank you to all our team members for your support in continuing to drive our business forward and enhancing our position as a trusted partner to our customers and farmers whose continued support has made this possible. ”

Manufacturing Investment and Structural Integration

The business made £109m strategic capex investments over FY2024, including:

  • £19m investment in its fresh and value-added pork division, with new slow-cooked capabilities at Bodmin, slicing automation at Corsham, new slicing and packing technology at King’s Lynn and investment in the company’s Westerleigh and Spalding processing sites.
  • Launch of a 3 year £40m investment programme across key poultry sites at Anwick, Ashbourne, Ballymena, Craigavon and Dungannon, aimed at expanding fresh and ready to eat poultry capacity for core retail and foodservice customers.
  • £12m investment in its Meal business as part of a £40m multi-year investment programme including upgrades to meals production facilities at Windmill Lane and Attleborough.
  • Continued on farm investment across poultry and pork to secure supply and drive productivity, welfare and sustainability. 

As part of its integration strategy, it opened a new Shared Services centre in Northern Ireland in June 2024 and this year invested in a new corporate headquarters in Uxbridge.

Ongoing innovation

Innovation now contributes over 6% of total net sales, with the company introducing over 700 new products across its private label and branded portfolio in 2024. Sustainability and animal welfare efforts have also directly supported commercial growth. The company was first-to-market supporting Waitrose’s move to 100% Better Chicken Commitment higher welfare standard in April 2025 and recently announced a new 10-year pork supply deal with the premium UK retailer.

The company’s innovation momentum has also continued in the first half of 2025 with a further 350 new products launched in the period and a continued focus on key brand expansion.

 

Retail and brand momentum

In 2024, net sales in key brands grew 5.7% year-on-year in Pilgrim’s £400m branded portfolio and this momentum has continued in 2025.

Fridge Raiders® broke into The Grocers Biggest Brands Top100 for the first time and outpaced category growth in volume and value at +7% and +6.6% in the second quarter 2025, while Rollover® posted double-digit value gains (11.2%), supported by expanded listings and NPD into chicken formats. 

Commenting on the segment, Nick Robinson, CCO said: “We’ve expanded our Rollover portfolio into chicken, created additional eating occasions for Fridge Raiders through packaging and are working in close collaboration with key customers to create a series of premium new meal offerings. These items and several others are slated for launch in Q3 2025 and will be supported by marketing investment to foster growth.”

The company’s foodservice division saw sales grow by 10% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, despite the channel facing a tougher environment towards the end of 2024 as total visits fell compared to prior year. The group plans to further build its presence in pubs and bars, where consumer traffic has shown relative resilience.

 

Outlook and Market Dynamics

Retail demand remained stable through FY24 and into the first half of 2025, with poultry and chilled ready meals performing well. Lamb and pork categories experienced some reduced demand to end quarter two 2025 attributed to higher price points amidst ongoing cost of living pressures for consumers and national insurance hikes for companies. These impacted both consumer sentiment and demand. 

The wider UK pork and poultry industry is also facing on farm space constraints due to industry-wide planning delays and moves to higher welfare BCC and 30kg poultry production across retailers which is constraining plant capacity and investment.

Faced with these headwinds, Pilgrim’s is focused on continued operational excellence, diversification, and value-added innovation and collaboration to support key customers to outperform category averages.