Revenue and profit at local independent food player Spudshed were boosted by pandemic-related buying, although Tony Galati’s company joined the ranks of those concerned about labour shortages.
Revenue and profit at local independent food player Spudshed were boosted by pandemic-related buying, although Tony Galati’s company joined the ranks of those concerned about labour shortages.
Vege Bandits, which predominantly operates under the trading name Spudshed, saw revenue grow 6 per cent to almost $445.7 million for the year ending June 30 2022, with net profit up 40 per cent to $1.6 million.
Employee expenses at the group, which has 1400 staff, grew more than 9 per cent to $54.6 million.
Total assets remained virtually static at $133.2 million, although net assets dipped slightly to $23 million.
While Covid-19 was a major influence on the company, other significant conditions reported by Vege Bandit’s directors such as inflation, flooding and supply chain disruption remain largely present in the current trading year, notably poor east coast weather and ongoing cost pressures.
“Covid-19 continued to have an effect on consumers spending habits and we continued to see an increase in demand for basic commodities during periods where local government enforced increased restrictions in an effort to contain the virus,” the directors of Vege Bandits reported.
“Adverse weather conditions, in particular the floods in South Australia that resulted in damage to the railway connecting Adelaide to Perth lead to panic buying and price increases on top of the general inflationary pressures.
“Despite supply chain disruptions, we were able to leverage our position in WA to achieve growth in sales for the business.
“Operating costs however also increased and the shortage of labour in WA saw employment costs increase in order to attract and retain staff.
“With consumers feeling the effects of inflation, the decision was taken not to pass all prices increases onto our customers and a take a long-term view of maintaining our customer base and value proposition for future growth.”
