The owner of Tiptree jam managed to break even last year despite a drop in revenue off the back of delistings in several retailers.
Wilkin & Sons experienced a sales fall of 2.5% to £54.5m in 2025, although the business still posted a pre-tax profit of £2.6m.
Rising energy costs placed the business in a “very long and very dark tunnel”, chairman Walter Scott said last year, although a new solar plant now provides a third of its energy and some respite from volatile markets.
The business’s most significant challenge this year was securing new grocery listings following delists in several retailers last year. “Appropriate new innovation will be essential to support success,” it noted in its latest accounts at Companies House.
Wilkin & Son’s difficulties in recent years forced it to carefully manage financial reserves, but last year it was able to turn invest again, most notably through substantial funding for its factory. It also boosted strawberry production on its farm, which has become available from this summer.
Tiptree Patisserie, a wholesale bakery supplying hospitality businesses, endured a difficult year with sales down almost 11% due to the downturn in the wider industry, the company said.
Wilkin & Sons said there are “some glimmers of light on the horizon” and it remains committed to the business for the foreseeable future. It will, however, “continue to keep all long-term options under review”.
Peter Wilkin, a director of the company and the great-grandson of its founder, left the business last year, meaning the board of directors is now without a Wilkin for the first time in its history.
Joint MD Scott Goodfellow also retired after nearly 20 years with the company. “Scott joined us from Mars and brought a different perspective of business behaviour, using words like ‘rigour’ and ‘targets’,” said Walter Scott.
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