John West Foods has returned to profitability as the canned fish importer benefitted from falling input costs, according to accounts filed to Companies House.
The company took a pre-tax profit of £14.5m in the year to 31 December 2024, up from a loss of £6.7m in 2023.
Thanks to “flexible sourcing strategies” and the global heft of its $4.3bn parent company Thai Union, John West was able to “ride out commodity volatility more effectively and keep pricing competitive”, a spokesman for the brand said.
Revenues at the company rose 3.5% to £139.2m.
The positive results came after a difficult 2023, when volumes slipped and John West recorded its first loss in 13 years amid an overall depression in demand for canned goods.
The company’s gross profit margin recovered from a low of 9.1% to 12.4%, leading gross profit to jump 40.5%. Cost of sales held steady around £122m, and the company’s pre-tax profit surged to £14.5m from a loss of £6.7m.
John West acknowledged pricing “played its part” in the bottom-line recovery, but attributed success to a “combination of cost discipline and innovation-led growth”, spurred on particularly by the “strong momentum” of its Ecotwist cans in the second half of the year.
The Ecotwist cans present a new, lighter-packaging format for John West, saving over 400 tonnes of steel annually and 65 tonnes of shrink wrap, while reducing the amount of brine, oil, or water in each tin and cutting its carbon footprint.
“Looking ahead, we’ve set an ambitious growth path to 2030. We are making targeted investments in our core tuna business, tapping into the fast-growing on-the-go segment, and pursuing new strategic opportunities,” the spokesman added.
“All of this is underpinned by innovation and marketing focus, positioning us to maintain momentum and capture greater market share.”
John West also benefitted from the sale of its 20% stake in La Doria UK, the UK subsidiary of Italian canned bean giant La Doria – which itself will soon combine with US private-label manufacturer Winland Foods to form a $4bn giant called Windoria.
The sale netted John West £18m in March 2024, with an additional £2m in price adjustments following in May 2024 and 2025, and helped boost the company’s net assets 46.7% to £44.2m.
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