Hilton Foods (Ireland) Ltd recorded an operating loss of €895,258 in 2022, compared with an operating profit of over €2.4m in 2021. Turnover was €124.9m, down from €137.6m in 2021.

The directors’ report says “trading conditions in the retail sector in 2022 were very challenging” with “inflation having a significant impact”. Hilton Foods (Ireland) implemented a “major restructuring” to help mitigate inflation and the cost of this is included in the loss recorded for the year. Employee numbers in the business, which is located in Drogheda, Co Louth, were reduced to 239 in 2022, with staff costs of €10m, compared with 359 employees in 2021 and staff costs of €14m.

The directors’ report identifies the principal risks impacting the business as being “a small customer base with growth dependent on the success of its customers and growth of the retail packaged protein business and the effective operating and management of the inventory packaging and supply chain process”.

Hilton Foods (Ireland) was established in 2004 to supply Tesco Ireland and is part of the Hilton Food Group PLC, which was founded in the UK and has expanded into northern and central Europe, Australia and New Zealand.