UK-based processor and supplier Hilton Food Group’s struggling UK seafood business cost the company around £15 million (€17.3 million/$18.5 million) last year as it battled soaring price inflation, according to analyst estimates at HSBC.
Hilton’s seafood business, which has historically delivered around £10 million (€11.5 million/$12.4 million) in operating profit, took the worst hit from extraordinarily high raw material prices that affected consumer demand.
Hilton decided not to pass on raw material price increases in full to sustain demand, but category volumes decreased by around 10 percent as consumers moved to cheaper proteins.
