Nils-Gerrit Wunsch
Research expert covering foods trends in North America, Europe, and the global food system
Associated British Foods - statistics & facts
Despite what the name suggests, Associated British Foods (ABF) is only partly a food company. Close to half of the revenue is generated by its retail division, which consists of the fashion retailer Primark. Besides fashion, the company is one of the world's largest sugar producers, the UK’s largest animal feed business, and provides companies with specialty yeast ingredients. Combined with the operations of its grocery division, all these operations generated a total revenue of just under 20 billion British pounds.
The diversity of its business is one of the core strengths of Associated British Foods. Combined, non-fashion segments are larger than its fashion division. On top of that, they have proven to be more crisis-resistant. While Primark’s operations saw a major impact during the pandemic, other divisions kept their revenues stable. Associated British Foods is much more than simply the parent company of Primark.
A European business going global
During the pandemic, the company’s revenue fell by almost two billion British pounds. Retail division sales shrank by 24 percent in 2020, while other parts of the company were less impacted. Its business operations in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Africa especially suffered declining revenues during the pandemic. ABF’s business in the Americas, meanwhile, continued to grow in that time. In the Asia Pacific region, it shrank by 22 million British pounds in 2020 and started to grow again in 2021. Post-pandemic, Associated British Foods has been flourishing. With 19.8 billion British pounds in revenue, 2023 was a new record year for the company. The growth spurt has seen ABF’s activities increase across all regions. The UK remains the company’s second biggest regional market, behind Europe and Africa combined. However, its business in other regions has reached new heights, especially in the Americas.What ABF brings to the table
Grocery is the second biggest division of Associated British Foods, generating 4.2 billion British pounds in revenue in 2023. This was almost half a billion pounds more compared to 2022. In the United Kingdom, Associated British Foods is among the leading baked goods companies. In this segment, ABF sold products worth 230.3 million British pounds. Overall it ranks fourth among larger companies in the segment. Brits buy not just bread and pastries from ABF. Its breakfast cereal brand Jordans reaches millions of consumers across the country.The diversity of its business is one of the core strengths of Associated British Foods. Combined, non-fashion segments are larger than its fashion division. On top of that, they have proven to be more crisis-resistant. While Primark’s operations saw a major impact during the pandemic, other divisions kept their revenues stable. Associated British Foods is much more than simply the parent company of Primark.
