KARLSTAD – More coffee and a better result, a slightly lower turnover and continuous expansion in Europe. That is how last year was for the Löfbergs group according to the annual report for June 2012 to June 2013. – We have actually never sold as much as last year, 10.1 million cups of coffee a day, says Lars Appelqvist, CEO at Löfbergs.
Low green coffee prices affect
The group’s turnover went down from SEK 1.746 million to 1.545 million. This is mainly due to the declining green coffee price, which contributed to the decrease of Löfberg’s raw material costs from SEK 1.147 million to SEK 901 million.
– For many coffee farmers today, the production costs are higher than what you get paid. Naturally, that is unsound in the long run. We are trying to affect the development in different ways, for example by increasing the supply and demand for certified coffee, says Lars Appelqvist.
Despite the decrease in turnover, Löfbergs improved its results from SEK 23 million to SEK 32 million, an improvement of 39%. This is partly because of synergy effects in the group, and partly because Löfbergs sold more coffee.
New customers
The volume increased during the year from 25 800 metric tons to 27 900 metric tons. When converted to number of cups of coffee, this is an increase from 9.4 million to 10.1 million per day.
The volume increase depends partly on the low coffee price and increased campaign activities, partly on the fact that Löfbergs got a number of new large customers, like McDonald’s in Sweden and Norway as well as Sodexo in the Nordic countries.
Grows abroad
The Swedish coffee business of Löfbergs showed a slightly lower result than in the previous year, while the subsidiaries in Norway, Denmark, Latvia and England developed as expected or even better.
Löfbergs purchased the English Food Brands Groups during the year, which means that the company got a foot in the door of the British retail trade.
– We have a high pace of expansion and work actively with strengthening our position in Sweden as well as on our export markets. We already have the opportunity and the permission to produce a whole lot more than we do today, says Lars Appelqvist.
Löfbergs is one of the largest family-owned coffee roasters in the Nordic countries.
The company has 300 employees and a turnover of SEK 1.5 billion. The head office is situated in Karlstad, Sweden and the company has its own roasting houses in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Latvia.
The company was founded in 1906 and is today one of the world’s largest importers of ecological and Fairtrade labelled coffee.
Löfbergs also owns the tea brand Kobbs.
Note: SEK 10 = $1.5
