Operating profit in the UK business of Colorado-based Leprino Foods took a significant hit in 2023, falling from £30.3m to £7.9m, which is the lowest operating profit figure recorded by the company since 2012.

Leprino Foods is the world’s largest producer of mozzarella cheese and has two manufacturing sites in the UK – Llangefni in Wales and Magheralin in NI, employing a total of 373 people.

The company also has a manufacturing site in Portlaoise, in the Republic of Ireland, opened in 2021, although it is run as Leprino Foods EU Ltd, so is not included in the UK accounts.

Those accounts show that turnover in the UK business was down 13% in 2023, dropping from £425.5m to £370.8m, meaning that operating profit margin fell from 7.1% to a relatively thin 2.1%.

While that profit margin is behind that recently reported by the likes of Dale Farm (5.9%) and Foyle Food Group (4.4%), it is still fairly typical of the wider agri-food industry.

In its 2023 review, the directors at Leprino Foods described performance as “satisfactory”, with turnover down due to lower prices received in dairy markets and margins squeezed by higher energy costs.

They expect margins in 2024 to remain “challenging”.

Despite that, the company is in a strong financial position, with net assets of £84.5m at the end of 2023, up over £4m on the previous year.

Leprino Foods UK was previously known as Glanbia Cheese UK, which was a joint venture between Glanbia plc and Leprino, set up in 2000.

However, in April 2023 Leprino Foods acquired 100% ownership of the company for a cash payment of €178.9m, with further contingent consideration of up to €25m dependent on the performance of the business over the next three years.