Biotiful Gut Health has bounced back into the black as booming demand for kefir fuelled significant double-digit growth at the business.
Revenues jumped 22% to £23.8m in the year to 30 March 2023 at the market-leading kefir brand, newly filed accounts revealed. Volumes also registered a “strong” double-digit rise thanks to increased consumer penetration and frequency.
Despite continued significant investment in marketing and staff, Biotiful also returned to profitability in the year, with operating profits swinging from a £475k loss to £117k in the black.
Founder and CEO Natasha Bowes told The Grocer that innovation remained an important driver of growth for the business, which had benefited from the twin trends in protein and gut health.
NPD launched in 2023 included a lower-sugar range of kefir for kids and, in what it claimed as a category first, a plant-based gut health yoghurt alternative. More recently, the brand made its first move into ambient with functional powder blends.
“Having pioneered the kefir category in the UK over a decade ago, I believe that our relentless focus on the quality and taste in delivering the best of natural gut health products has been fundamental to the consistent, incremental volume growth Biotiful has been delivering year after year,” said Bowes, who last year featured in The Grocer power list for women in dairy.
“With the momentum in consumer awareness of natural gut health benefits accelerating, our unique brand and product portfolio position allows us to reach the consumer in the most relevant ways, leveraging years of experience and delivering market-leading growth against the backdrop of a rather challenging economic environment.
“We have never veered from our focus on what matters most to the consumer, and it is paying off. Yet, we are only just getting started. Biotiful Gut Health has big plans, as there is so much more to do in this highly relevant, big space.”
Bowes added revenue growth is expected to have accelerated further in the current 2023/24 financial year, with a forecast rise of about 40% – taking the topline north of £30m.
She said profitability also continued to normalise as inflationary pressures started to ease.
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