West Country cheesemaker Wyke Farms grew sales and profits last year, but has warned the business needs to further increase profitability amid mounting global uncertainty.
Operating profit for the Somerset-based business rose by 30.8% to £8.8m, according to Wyke’s latest accounts, for the year to 31 March 2025, posted with Companies House.
This represented a significant improvement on its previous accounting period, when operating profits fell by almost 40%, on the back of rising production and labour costs.
Total profit after tax grew by 58% to £4.2m, with profit margin up from 1.68% to 2.4%, while turnover increased by 10% to £177m.
But while Wyke Farms MD Rich Clothier described the results as “satisfactory”, he warned “returns across the business still need to improve so we can continue to invest”, citing the rising cost of borrowing, volatile dairy commodity markets, and the need to keep spending on cheese stocks, plant and machinery.
“We need to be more profitable because we know the challenges are bigger and more unpredictable,” Clothier told The Grocer this week. “Businesses that are on a knife-edge aren’t going to survive the next 10 years because we live in the most volatile world, with the most volatile trading conditions we’ve ever seen in our working life. And it’s only getting worse.”
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Clothier – who was recently appointed an MBE for services to sustainable agriculture and food production – cited the performance of Wyke’s export business, which now represents between 35% and 40% of the company’s total output, as a standout performer. Investment in its butter operation now allowed it to churn fresh butter suitable for shipping overseas, he said.
“We’re building volume, we’re talking to more customers in more regions than we’ve ever spoken to,” he added.
“It requires a lot of front-loaded investment, though – everything takes a lot longer than it would with UK customers. But people are really positive everywhere we go – and our cheddar and butter is being really well received, so we’re happy with how exports are progressing.”
He also pointed to the performance of Wyke’s renewable energy operation as an additional highlight, with the cheesemaker “not only allowing us to promote our green credentials, but also acting to mitigate the volatility risk inherent in the dairy industry”.
However, Clothier warned the prospect of additional tariffs on exports to the US – following Donald Trump’s move to punish eight European countries, including the UK, with a 10% levy due to opposition to his Greenland annexation plans – could be “very damaging”.
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