Unswerving focus on costs and on efficient marketing means that Tulip is delivering results which are markedly better than the previous year and approx. 20 per cent better than budgeted.
By reducing the number of salaried employees by more than 10 per cent and maintaining its general focus on costs, Tulip has been able to weather a situation in which the global economic crisis has meant smaller volumes.
An unavailability of export credits and poor exchange rates have meant that we are particularly hard-pressed in the important UK market and with respect to our sales to overseas markets, says Tulip’s CEO, Flemming N. Enevoldsen.
The financial crisis also means that consumers eat out less, and this has affected Tulip Food Company’s sales to the catering sector. On the other hand, the company has had a good year in Scandinavia and, together with significantly improved operations at the factories and marked savings achieved by the purchasing department, it means that the Tulip Food Company is returning markedly better results than last year.
However, the profit is still not at a satisfactory level, and the coming year will therefore also require furthermeasures with a view to increasing profit. We are maintaining our focus on costs, and this has meant, among other things, that we are closing the factory in Sdr. Borup and sharing production between the other factories. We are also working to simplify business operations by cutting the number of product numbers and recipes, says Flemming N. Enevoldsen.
The ongoing cost-saving measures will be combined with a strong focus on new and innovative products designed to enhance the value of Tulip’s sales. The new initiatives include Tulip’s new plastic can which was launched in autumn 2009. At the same time, Tulip is investing considerable development resources in becoming market leader within the provision of meals to schools and other institutions.
Efforts are also being made to improve our reliability of delivery. Analyses show that it has already improved greatly, but the aim is to be even better.
The financial crisis is not over, but I am convinced that Tulip is now better geared and will experience increased revenue and earnings in the coming years, says Flemming N. Enevoldsen.