Greencore posted positive first quarter sales growth as new product offerings led to a jump in sushi and chilled ready meal volumes.

For the 13 weeks to 27 December 2024, the UK’s largest sandwich maker saw group sales increase 7.5% to £474.3m, while sales across its food-to-go categories rose 7.2% to £314.7m year on year.

Total volumes for the quarter saw an increase of 2.6% which “outperforms the market”, according to chief executive Dalton Philips, while overall sandwich volumes rose by 2.4%.

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Areas that saw the largest volume growth include sushi, up 15.3% year on year, driven by the launch of a new range with one of Greencore’s customers and chilled ready meals, which saw volumes rocket 23.5% year on year, driven by the onboarding of a significant new contract, according to the food producer.

While the group has warned that it continues to face an unprecedented labour cost challenge from the National Living Wage and National Insurance increases set out in the Budget, Greencore said it is committed to offsetting this in full through manufacturing automation, operational excellence, labour planning and technology investment, alongside its usual inflation recovery measures.

Philips said: “We continue to make progress against each of our strategic objectives and are well positioned to continue this momentum through FY25. We continue to remain focused on making high quality food, enhancing our profitability, and strengthening our position as the UK’s leading convenience foods manufacturer.

“We have delivered a strong Q1 and are confident that we will deliver a full year performance in line with current market expectations. We will share more detail on our medium-term growth strategy at our Capital Markets Event in February”.