Turnover food industry up 28.3 percent

In the second quarter of 2022, turnover in the food industry was 28.3 percent up on a year earlier, largely due to higher prices. Nearly 11 percent of manufacturers in the food industry also expect higher turnover in the third quarter of 2022, while more than half expect prices to rise further in that quarter. The number of bankruptcies in the food industry doubled in the second quarter compared to a year earlier. This is evident from an analysis of recent CBS figures by our editors.

Exports grow slightly faster than domestic sales

Foreign turnover in the food industry rose by 28.8 percent in the second quarter, compared with 27.8 percent growth in domestic sales. The growth was clearly higher than in the first quarter, when exports and sales to domestic customers increased by 21.5 and 18 percent respectively. In the first half of this year, the total turnover of the food industry grew by 24.2 percent. Prices in the food industry rose by 19.1 percent in the same period. 

Price increase food industry picks up speed

Food industry prices rose by an average of 22.2 percent in the second quarter. The pace of price increases in the food industry is therefore clearly accelerating: in the first quarter, prices rose by "only" 15.9 percent. Prices in the food oils and fats industry (+36.0 percent) rose the most, closely followed by the animal feed industry (+35.8 percent) and the flour industry (+28.1 percent). Prices in the bread and pasta industry (+7.1 percent) rose the least, while prices in the fruit and vegetable processing industry (+14.3 percent) and the fish processing industry (+14.6 percent) also rose less than average in the second quarter.

Food industry entrepreneurs expect higher turnover in third quarter

At the beginning of the third quarter of this year, 10.9 percent (optimists minus pessimists) of companies in the food industry expected higher turnover in the third quarter. Nearly 24 percent predicted higher turnover and nearly 13 percent lower turnover; two-thirds of entrepreneurs expected sales to remain the same. The flour industry has the most optimists: 58.9 percent of entrepreneurs, followed by the fruit and vegetable processing industry (48.5 percent) and the animal feed industry (32.5 percent). The dairy industry (-8.9 percent) and the bread and pasta industry (-6.9 percent) are the only branches in the food sector where entrepreneurs were negative about the development of turnover in the third quarter.

Number of bankruptcies food industry relatively high in second quarter

In the second quarter of this year, the number of bankruptcies pronounced in the food industry totalled 10. In the same period last year, 5 companies went bankrupt. The number of bankruptcies in the second quarter of this year was the highest since the third quarter of 2019, when 13 companies went bankrupt. Most bankruptcies in the second quarter occurred in the bread and pasta industry (7). Among others, the fish processing industry, the edible oils and fats industry and the dairy industry did not face bankruptcy in the second quarter.