JDE Peet’s, the coffee giant that owns brands such as Kenco, Tassimo, Douwe Egberts, and L’OR, has reported better-than-expected full-year results and forecast “stable” gross profit for 2022 despite input cost inflation.
The group’s adjusted EBIT increased organically by 1.5% to €1.30bn during 2021, driven by a 5.4% organic increase in adjusted gross profit which was partially offset by reinvestments in marketing, innovations and other strategic growth capabilities which included an organic increase in marketing spend of 27%.
Total sales increased by 6.1% on an organic basis with its ‘In-Home’ business continuing to deliver robust sales growth of 5.0% while sales in its ‘Away-from-Home’ unit increased by 11.5% after the easing of Covid restrictions in the second half of the year boosted demand.
The company noted that it expects the business environment in 2022 to remain volatile as input cost inflation and some effects of Covid persist. Within this context, it expects to deliver double-digit organic sales growth, with “disciplined pricing for inflation”, while aiming for a stable level of gross profit compared to last year.
JDE Peet’s Chief Executive Officer Fabien Simon highlighted the company had become a “nimbler global coffee & tea pure player and our brands emerged stronger”.
He stressed that the business was confident it would “successfully navigate an unprecedented year of inflation in 2022.”
