The manufacturer said this performance was significantly ahead of overall end-market growth, demonstrating “strong end market outperformance” and continued momentum.
Kerry’s snacks, meat, dairy and beverage markets were the main contributors to growth. Foodservice recorded “strong” volume growth of 5% during the period, supported by new menu concepts and seasonal product launches. In retail, growth was “supported by continued product renovation activity”, alongside innovation in high-growth segments serving global, regional and local customers.
Europe results reflect growth across foodservice and retail
In Europe, volumes increased by 0.7%, with gains recorded across both the foodservice and retail channels during the period.
The snacks category delivered “good growth”, while volumes in meals and bakery were affected by “challenged” category conditions.
“Growth in the period was led by good innovation activity in the foodservice channel and continued product renovation activity in the retail channel.”
Edmond Scanlon, chief executive officer of Kerry, said: “We are pleased to report a strong performance in the period, reflecting a further step-up in volume growth across all three regions in the third quarter, combined with continued strong margin expansion. The volume growth achieved in the third quarter reflects very strong growth in the Americas, a further step-up in APMEA and good growth in Europe. Growth in the period was led by good innovation activity in the foodservice channel and continued product renovation activity in the retail channel.
“From a strategic perspective, we continued to develop our business, including further investment in our taste and biotechnology-enabled solutions capacity and capabilities across our regions. We made strong progress in our Accelerate 2.0 programme through continued footprint optimisation and digital excellence deployment. We recently held an investor day in Beloit, WI, where we provided further insight into our leading market positions and growth plans aligned to our newly announced 2030 targets.
“While macro and geopolitical uncertainty continue to impact market conditions, our strong end market outperformance highlights the strength and relevance of our strategic positioning across our markets, channels and customer base. Our inbuilt business resiliency positions us well through this period, and we remain strongly positioned for volume growth and margin expansion, underpinned by a good innovation and renovation pipeline.”