By Gordon Deegan
Crisp maker, Keogh’s Crisps is to use 18 million potatoes this year in response to increasing demand for its products.
CEO of the north Dublin-based family owned business, Tom Keogh said today (Thursday, March 2) that the company is also planning to construct a new greenfield production facility next year as the business continues to grow.
Keogh said that the spend on the new facility “will be heading towards €10 million”.
He added that the family owned farm based business has been in place for 200 years and he is “investing here for future generations”.
Keogh’s Crisps
Tom Keogh said that the projected revenue growth of 20% for this year follows revenue growth of 30% last year.
The CEO said last year, the US export market was “the stand-out performer” with revenues nearly doubling.
He said that the growth in the US had a knock-on impact on profitability due to “huge increases in transport costs” and that overall exports now account for 25% of company revenues.
He said that Keogh’s market share of the market in Ireland is 12%.
Tom Keogh said that its best-performing product last year was its popcorn range with popcorn revenues up 47%.
“And we are hitting the same increase in sales for the year to March ’23,” he added.
He said that in the Middle East, the firm’s popcorn range is selling more than the company’s crisp products.
Accounts and expansion
Keogh was commenting on new accounts showing that the business recorded post-tax profits of €118,406 in the 12 months to the end of March last.
The profits for last year were a slight increase of profits of €113,408 for the prior year.
Keogh said that a €3 million investment in the business’ current facilities is due to come on line this week and will increase production capacity by 50%.
The expansion project was delayed by nine months due to a global shortage of vital parts for the new equipment.
Tom Keogh said that with the new capacity coming on stream, it can serve growth opportunities here and abroad.
He said: “Penetration in Irish market is still very low and we have nice growth in front of us.”
Keogh Crisps now has deals with Ryanair, Singapore Airlines, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa and Emirates.
Keogh said that the airline deals “is giving us global distribution of the brand”.
He added that the deal with Ryanair involves the firm supplying one million crisp bags a year and negotiations are continuing with global airlines on other deals.
The new accounts show that 83 were employed at the end of last March and Tom Keogh said that the business now employs 100 people.
He added that since Covid-19 lockdowns, the business has enjoyed a “huge recovery” in its ‘impulse’ or small crisp bag, with sales up 50% last year.
The company’s crisp ‘share-bag’ revenues account for around 65% of company revenues.
Keogh said that the firm is reviewing the recommended retail price of its product due to inflationary costs after not putting in place a recommended price increase for the last six years.
The new accounts show that at the end of last March, the firm was sitting on accumulated profits of €1.46 million. The company’s cash funds increased from €849,772 to €1.06 million.
The profit for last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €520,888.