Vegetable box firm Riverford doubles staff payout despite plunge in profits

Appetite for organic food continues from Covid boom but firm warns inflation and rising costs are eating into profits

The organic vegetable box company Riverford doubled its payout to shareholders – including hundreds of workers – to £850,000 last year despite a dive in profits as sales continued to grow beyond the pandemic boom.

Sales rose 1% to £110.8m in the year to 30 April 2022. However, the company said that trading conditions and cost pressures this year and next could be some of the worst in its 36-year history after profits dived 56% to £5.2m.