THE west Belfast-based operation of Finnish packaging giant Huhtamaki has reported an explosion in its business as the north’s hospitality sector pivoted to takeaways and home delivery during lockdown.
A new set of accounts published by Huhtamaki Foodservice Delta show its turnover jumped 61 per cent to £100 million during 2020, with pre-tax profits rising more than five-fold to £18 million.
The company said the switch to takeaways and a diversification into personal protective equipment (PPE) during 2020 were the big drivers.
Huhtamaki bought Delta Print and Packaging from Belfast businessman Terry Cross for £80m in 2016. The deal also included a manufacturing facility in Poland.
The Finnish group had already invested significantly in its Northern Ireland foodservice division prior to the pandemic, setting up a new factory in Antrim during 2019 to make paper straws for McDonald’s.
At the time, the company said the £12m investment would create 100 jobs.
In its 2020 financial report, Huhtamaki Foodservice Delta said it had actually employed an additional 128 people in the 12 months ending December 31 2020.
That left a workforce of 557, around 200 more staff than in 2018.
While the company recruited an extra 50 production workers in 2020, the biggest growth was among agency staff. There were 196 agency workers on its books in 2020, three times the number from 2017.
The cardboard specialist’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic also involved a partnership with south Derry manufacturer Bloc Blinds to make millions of protective face shields for healthcare workers.
Commenting on the hectic period for the west Belfast-based business, the company’s directors said: “The 2020 financial period contained many positives for the company including an increase in paper packaging revenue due to a number of key customers expanding into home delivery and takeaways during the pandemic.
“Restaurants were closed for several months during 2020 due to Covid restrictions and the company’s largest customers experienced an increase in volumes for takeaways and home delivery.
“The company also diversified during the pandemic and produced PPE for the NHS in England and Northern Ireland.”
