Greencore profits have risen for the year as demand for sandwiches and salads held strong at the convenience food group.

In the year to 29 September, pre-tax profit for the group increased 13.6% to £45.2m as it largely passed on inflation, while sales were up 19% to £1.9bn.

Food-to-go categories such as sandwiches, salads, sushi and chilled snacking accounted for 65% of reported sales at £1.25bn, which the group attributed to inflation recovery and strong volume growth in sandwiches and salads.

Low double-digit inflation in the period was mitigated by a pass-through of cost increases, cost reductions, product and range formulations, and alternative sourcing.

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Greencore launched 400 new or reformulated products over the year as categories such as chilled ready meals, soups, sauces and quiche, ambient sauces and pickles, and frozen Yorkshire puddings saw sales increase by 14.3% to £661.1m.

Greencore CEO Dalton Philips said: “In a challenging market environment, we have stabilised the business, and made good strategic progress. We successfully mitigated and recovered the majority of our input cost inflation through effective operational and commercial initiatives.”

Looking ahead, the group core focus remains improving profitability, as Philips said it will invest “in a number of initiatives focused on both optimising our network and our IT infrastructure, to give us the platform for future growth”.