Daylesford Organic – the upmarket grocer that recently hosted the nuptials of ex-PM Boris Johnson and his new wife Carrie – has increased sales by 15% – but it wasn’t enough to stop it slipping back into the red.
Strong demand from wholesale customers, increased sales on its recently revamped website, and extensions to Daylesford’s flagship Cotswolds farm shop, had also contributed to the growth, with sales rising to £49.1m in the 52 weeks to 26 March 2022, from £42.7m.
Digital sales grew by 8.5% on the previous year, while farm shop sales were up 60% compared to 2019 levels, the last comparable year before the pandemic, the company said.
In the intervening period, however, sales at Daylesford Organic have boomed. In 2021 they rose 27%, fuelled by surging sales of groceries, as locked down consumers, including the then prime minister, stocked up, both online and at its farm shops.
As a result, Daylesford – owned by Lady Bamford, wife of Tory party donor and JCB chairman Lord Bamford – recorded a profit of £9k that year, the first since filing full accounts in 2005. Combined losses in the previous years totalled £65m.
Despite the continued growth, Daylesford fell to a pre-tax loss of £291k. In the accounts Daylesford said increased costs as it resumed full capacity operations following the pandemic had caused the business to go back into the red.
Headcount across Daylesford’s four London stores and Gloucestershire farm rose to 454, from 373 in the previous financial year.
Over the past couple of years Daylesford extended its flagship farm complex near Kingham in the Cotswolds, roughly doubling the size of its shop through the addition of a new home and garden section, as well as an extension to the on-site spa.
The business also hosts a cookery school and café. A new health and wellness members club ‘The Club by Bamford’ is set to open in 2023.
While the company said increased profitability was a long-term goal, widespread economic uncertainty remained the principal risk and it was anticipating changes in consumer spending habits, driven by the cost of living crisis.
Daylesford Organic has been described as Britain’s poshest grocer. Its clientele includes a host of A-list celebrities, with well-known Cotswolds neighbours such as David and Victoria Beckham, Jeremy Clarkson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Moss and David Cameron among its customers.
As well as enjoying the lavish hospitality of the Bamfords at a wedding reception at Bamford House this summer, former prime minister Boris Johnson also reportedly spent £12,500 at Daylesford during the lockdown, taking delivery to Downing Street of 30 giants hampers as well as about 100 specially prepared meals.
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