Douwe Egberts' parent company expects modest growth

JDE Peet’s, the parent company of Douwe Egberts, sold significantly less coffee outside of the home last year. However, a rise in consumption at home largely compensated for the loss in turnover.

More premium coffee

The total turnover of the group, which produces tea and coffee, fell by 4.2 per cent, to 6.65 billion euros in 2020. However, the loss was no more than 0.2 per cent on an organic basis. Operating profit came to 933 million euros, compared to 1.04 billion euros a year earlier. When figures are added up, 367 million euro net profit remains.

The out-of-home channel was hit hard by the Covid crisis, and the compulsory closures resulted in the loss of nearly a third of sales. On the other hand, the demand for coffee beans and aluminium cups for use at home rose spectacularly with premium brands, in particular, doing well: this resulted in a bonus of over 9 per cent for this division.
 

Hopes on vaccination

JDE Peet’s performed particularly well in Europe, the most important market for the Dutch company, as revenues grew by 6.3 per cent. In Latin America, however, the devaluation of the Brazilian real affected the group.

For the current year, JDE Peet’s expects organic growth of 3 to 5 per cent. The company expects the Covid restrictions to phase out as the vaccination campaign progresses.