Shortbread-maker Dean’s of Huntly will “take a pasting” in its current trading year after a sharp rise in the cost of butter, its boss said yesterday.
Managing director Bill Dean added the impact would hit the firm like a cudgel during the year to June 2018. Butter costs went from about £2,000 to nearly £7,000 per tonne in the space of a few months last year before settling at about £4,500, he said.
Dean’s uses more than 400 tonnes of butter a year on the production line, where fast-rising labour costs and higher business rates are also eating into the balance sheet.
Its boss was forced to put ambitious investment plans on hold last year as Brexit uncertainty added to the cost concerns, with the firm having already spent about £2million developing a new warehouse and distribution facility.
Dean’s has planning consent for a business park on the outskirts of Huntly. But Mr Dean said he was currently fully focused on getting costs down, including through recent investment in robotics in the factory.
The firm made pre-tax profits of £473,476 during the year to June 30, 2017, against £530,922 in 2015-16, on a slight rise in turnover to £8.4million.
