Marketing boost helps Toupargel

A concerted marketing effort, the late timing of Easter and the acquisition of Unilever's rival business, Agrigel, all helped boost sales at French frozen food retailer Toupargel in the second quarter.

On a comparable basis, assuming that Toupargel​ had owned Agrigel a year earlier, sales for the second quarter were ahead 4 per cent at €92.8 million, building on the 3.6 per cent increase in first quarter sales to €28.4 million (before Agrigel was consolidated).

For the first half as a whole, and again on a comparable basis, sales were ahead 3.9 per cent at €121.2 million.

Toupargel, which specialises in home delivery of frozen and fresh food products, said that sales from its core frozen food business were ahead 3.8 per cent to €89.3 million on a comparable basis for the quarter, and by 2.7 per cent to €173.4 million for the half.

The increase was due primarily to higher sales to existing clients, with a reduction in the number of orders (7.5 per year in 2003 compared to eight in 2002) offset by a 5 per cent increase in the price per order. But there was also a substantial increase in new customers, with the company's marketing efforts helping to add 60,000 new customers over the last 12 months.

For the smaller fresh food business, the second quarter marked a significant turnaround, with sales rising by 6.1 per cent to €3.5 million after several months of declining revenues.

Toupargel said that the reversal in fortunes was again due to the addition of more than 3,000 clients per month since the start of the year, as well as to a significant increase in the price per order. The group said it would now focus its efforts on keeping the new customers it has gained over the last six months.

Turnover for the year as a whole is expected to be around €365-370 million, up from €355 million on a comparable basis last year, with both the frozen and fresh food units likely to contribute for the first time.