The firm, which owns brands such as Quorn Foods and Cauldron, reported a pre-tax loss of £63.4m – in large part due to administrative expenses of £36.7m and selling and distribution costs of £22.4m.
After tax, this translates to a loss for the year of more than £50m.
Meanwhile, revenue declined 6.9% between 2022 and 2023, falling from £220m to £204.9m. Marlow said this was largely the result of the decline of the meat-free retail category in the UK and US, driven by the cost of living crisis.
Foodservice revenue increased by nearly 5%, but this was not enough to offset the retail decline.
In response to rising input costs and falling retail demand, Marlow restructured its UK operations during the year. Changes included the simplification of existing structures and the reduction of roles across retail, supply chain management and R&D.
“Inflationary pressures had a major impact during 2023, with the prices of energy, commodities and other inputs rising significantly above historic levels,” said Marlow’s strategic report, posted alongside its results.
“These pressures eased throughout the year but costs remained elevated. The group took steps to minimise the impact of this inflation through competitive sourcing, selective forward purchasing and internal efficiency initiatives as well as through increasing the selling prices of some of its products.
“However, the group seeks to protect its customers and consumers from increased costs and inflationary input cost increases were only partially recovered through selling price increases.”
Despite these challenges, Marlow said that it has continued to innovate while increasing its share of the UK retail market by 0.7%, based on Circana figures.
A survey of the UK’s top six retailers placed Quorn Foods as number one for chilled meat-free products and third in the overall frozen food category.
In other news, Cheshire-based Roberts Bakery has announced the appointment of Julia Banton as its new managing director.
