Greencore Group (GNC) CMD 2025 summary

Strategic direction and business transformation

• Executed a three-horizon strategy: stabilizing the business, rebuilding profitability, and targeting new growth beyond the core.

• Shifted from a business unit to a functional structure, improving operational discipline and efficiency.

• Pruned the portfolio, exited loss-making businesses, and focused on high-return categories, with ROIC improving by 310bps since 2022.

• Built strong, long-term customer partnerships, with over 50% of volume on secure agreements and deep daily engagement.

• The 'Greencore Way' emphasizes lasting partnerships, great food, delivery excellence, sustainable choices, and people at the core.

Growth opportunities and market positioning

• Operates in attractive, growing markets: convenience food growing at 4%, food-to-go at 5.6%, and private label outpacing branded products.

• Identified significant organic growth potential by filling white space with existing customers and expanding into new day parts and formats.

• Leveraged direct-to-store distribution and innovation to drive growth in convenience and premium segments.

• Exploring new channels (foodservice, direct-to-consumer), categories, and countries, with Ireland and EU as medium-term targets.

• Strong pipeline of new business with existing and new customers, leveraging direct-to-store network and category expansion.

Operational excellence and efficiency

• Launched the Making Business Easier (MBE) program to standardize systems, improve data, and drive process efficiency.

• Implemented a forensic diagnostic approach to identify and attack inefficiencies, targeting a 30% addressable cost pool.

• Rolled out operational excellence pillars, automation, network optimization, and overhead reduction, with early wins in labor and waste reduction.

• Enhanced automation and network optimization, with over £15m invested in automation in the past three years, delivering >£8m annual cost benefit.

• Created 15% surplus capacity, enabling margin-accretive growth without immediate need for new facilities.