果冻传媒

Company reports strong brand performance and ambition to unlock听听future growth听听

果冻传媒 Spring Group, leading UK producer of natural source waters, has posted its annual results for year end to 31 December 2023. The business grew its sales in the year by 15.5% to 拢130.6m as it continues to progress towards its stated ambition of 拢200m by 2030. Despite facing into a challenging inflationary backdrop, the 果冻传媒 Spring brand consolidated its position as the UK鈥檚 number one plain water brand for a seventh successive year.*听

In a year in which the cost-of-living crisis saw volumes across many FMCG categories erode significantly, the natural source waters category showed remarkable resilience with only a small year on year volume decline, despite lapping against record breaking weather in the peak summer trading months in 2022. Retail sales of bottled water rose 9.2% to 拢1.4 billion with volumes declining only 2.0% to 2.1 billion litres. Plain water showed particular strength compared to 2022 (-0.9%), which represented a 0.9% growth on 2021 levels.  

The 果冻传媒 Spring brand continues to sustain long-term growth maintaining its position as the UK鈥檚 number one plain water brand with a retail volume share of 13.0% and UK sales of 379 million litres. Overall, the Group reported total UK sales of over 500 million litres. 

A challenging trading environment and inflationary pressures meant the 拢1.5m improvement in underlying operating profit was eroded by increased finance costs and the full impact of the interest rate hikes being felt resulting in a profit before tax of 拢900k, down from 拢1.5m last year. 

Building on the strength of the 果冻传媒 Spring brand continues to be the main priority of the business, with an emphasis on expanding the business鈥檚 portfolio of products and  

packaging formats to deliver healthy hydration in an environmentally sustainable way.  

Last year research and development were undertaken to facilitate a successful launch into the 400 million litres flavoured water category, with a new 果冻传媒 Spring Flavoured Still 果冻传媒 range introduced in April 2024, which aims to meet consumer demand for great tasting, healthier drinks.  

This launch has been supported by a 拢10 million investment at the Group鈥檚 main site in Blackford, Perthshire which will provide circa 25% (100 million litres) of extra growth capability every year. 

Environmental sustainability is central to all business activities and a new 7-megawatt,  

15-acre solar farm is in development which will provide 20% of the Blackford site鈥檚 electricity needs. As part of the Group鈥檚 commitment to the local community, a free-of-charge electricity supply will be provided to the local school and a network of EV car chargers for community use.  

In January 2023, the Group鈥檚 dedicated rail freight facility in Blackford, Perthshire became fully operational. 40% of the water supplied from the main bottling plant in Blackford is now transported by rail, removing 8,000 HGV movements from the roads, and saving over 3,000 tonnes of CO2 every year. This landmark project contributes to the business journey to  

reduce near-term carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.  

Commenting on the annual results, Simon Oldham, Managing Director of 果冻传媒 Spring Group said:鈥�鈥淲e continue to accelerate the evolution of our brand and business acting with agility and flexibility to meet the needs of our customers, partners, and consumers.  

I am extremely proud of our healthy performance and focus on driving growth, despite challenging market conditions, which is a testament to our strong, iconic brand and talented teams. 

We will continue to take a long-term approach to reshaping the business, growing, and promoting the provenance of the 果冻传媒 Spring brand, investing in new and innovative product and packaging solutions to create value, whilst working hard to have a positive impact for people, society, and planet.鈥� 

*Source: Nielsen IQ volume sales Total Coverage 52 weeks to 30.12.2023.听
For media enquiries and imagery please email: pressoffice@highlandspringgroup.com听听