Country Crest, the vegetable packing business based in north Co Dublin and owned by the Hoey family, recorded double-digit growth in sales last year. Accounts filed for Country Crest show the company recorded sales of €31.3m for 2019, which was up 18% year on year.

Despite the higher sales, Country Crest saw its operating profits fall 7% in 2019 to €1.1m, as operating margins narrowed to 3.6%. The drop in profits was mostly related to a once-off charge related to the disposal of certain assets.

Country Crest is one of the largest vegetable packing businesses in the country

The accounts also show that Country Crest paid a €22.5m dividend to its parent company, Hoey Agri Ltd, as part of a company restructuring process.

Established by the Hoey family in the 1990s, Country Crest is one of the largest vegetable packing businesses in the country and has become the sole supplier of potatoes to Tesco.

Earlier this year, Country Crest signed a deal with Tesco Ireland valued at €62.5m that will see it supply 30,000t of potatoes, 5,000t of onions and over 1,000t of sweet potatoes annually to the supermarket giant.