London-listed UK meat business Cranswick is looking to increase capacity by acquiring local pork and poultry processor Froch Foods for an undisclosed sum.

Froch, based in Leeds in northern England, produces a range of bacon and cooked meat products for the retail channel, predominantly for an unnamed “flagship” customer. It employs 74 people who will be retained by Cranswick post-deal.

Adam Couch, Cranswick’s CEO, said: “The addition of Froch Foods is complementary to our existing bacon and cooked meats production capabilities and aligned to our continuous commitment to invest and expand in current categories, add additional capacity and drive efficiencies across the business.”

Commenting on the bolt-on acquisition, analyst Clive Black, of house broker Shore Capital, said: “Froch Foods looks to us like it fits well and truly into Cranswick’s core domains, not just in terms of geography but more importantly activity, too.”

He added: “No purchase details have been revealed. We imagine any cost will be financed from Cranswick’s very strong liquidity reserves.”

In the 12 months to 25 March 2023, Cranswick, based in Hull in northern England, saw its revenue increase by 15.7% year-on-year to £2.32bn ($2.95bn).

Adjusted operating profit was up 4.5% to £146.5m.

Volumes, however, dropped marginally by 1.4% due to a drop in export volumes to the Far East.

Cranswick employs around 13,700 people and operates 22 facilities in the UK.

It is best known as a supplier of meat products but it also owns brands including houmous supplier Ramona’s and olive products operation Cypressa.