Goodfella's grabs a bigger slice of market

Northern Foods posted a return to sales growth yesterday after its rebranded Goodfella's pizza range secured a bigger slice of the UK market.

Northern posted like-for-like sales growth of 7.1 per cent in the second quarter to 2 October, compared with a decline of 1.6 per cent in the previous quarter. The turnaround, which was ahead of market expectations, was driven by a 10.9 per cent rise in bakery like-for-like sales and a slowdown in the recent sales falls seen in the frozen foods division. Its Goodfella's brand increased share from 16.3 per cent in May to 21.1 per cent last month, although like-for-like sales in the overall frozen division were down 16.2 per cent as the figures continued to reflect the company's decision to end certain retail contracts in order to boost margins.

In the chilled foods division, like-for-like sales rose 16.4 per cent after a strong performance in ready meals, and from sandwiches and salads following contract wins with British Airways and Costa Coffee.