IN Brief:
- Whitworths is expanding manufacturing capacity with three new production lines after securing additional business.
- The food manufacturer has increased warehouse pallet capacity by 23% and expanded the space available for raw materials.
- Turnover increased by 16.7% to £173.1 million for the year ended 3 January 2026, while operating profit before fair-value adjustments reached £7 million.
Whitworths is expanding its food manufacturing capacity with three new production lines and additional warehousing space, following significant business wins and an increase in annual turnover.
The Northamptonshire-based company has increased warehouse pallet capacity by 23% and expanded its ability to hold raw materials. It identified supply chain resilience as a continuing challenge in its latest financial reporting, with the storage investment intended to support production and purchasing requirements as the business grows.
The manufacturing expansion accompanies stronger financial results for the year ended 3 January 2026. Turnover increased by 16.7%, from £148.4 million to £173.1 million, while operating profit before fair-value adjustments rose from £5.5 million to £7 million.
Whitworths reported profit before tax of £3 million, with the year-on-year comparison affected by changes in the fair value of derivatives. A £1.4 million loss in the latest period followed a £1.5 million gain in the preceding year, contributing to the difference between the improvement in underlying operating profit and the reported pre-tax result.
The company supplies dried fruit, nuts, seeds, home baking ingredients and packaged snacks, combining branded retail products with business conducted across other channels. Its manufacturing and storage requirements are influenced by the range of ingredients handled and the customer orders being fulfilled.
Three additional production lines will increase its available manufacturing capacity, although Whitworths has not disclosed the equipment suppliers, process technologies or rated outputs involved. The company has also not identified which products will be manufactured on the new installations or confirmed a specific commissioning date for each line.
The production expansion follows what the business described as significant new customer wins. The additional contracts have not been individually identified, and the financial value attributable to them has not been disclosed. As a result, the proposed increase in production capacity cannot yet be matched to a quantified forecast for new manufacturing volumes.
Additional warehouse space will support those operations by allowing the company to hold more incoming materials. The 23% increase refers specifically to pallet positions, rather than to a corresponding rise in stock tonnage or annual factory output, which would depend on the products and quantities stored.
The company’s decision to increase raw material holdings reflects pressures affecting the availability and movement of ingredients across its supply chain. Greater storage capacity can allow purchasing and manufacturing schedules to be managed with more flexibility, although Whitworths has not quantified any reduction in production interruptions or change in inventory costs resulting from the project.
Alongside the investment in manufacturing and storage, Whitworths has been extending its product range as part of its Mission Nutrition strategy. The programme encourages additional uses for nuts, seeds and dried fruit across meals and snacks, with development activity spanning both established ingredients and newer food formats.
Its Nutty Kitchen Supermince range, made with Californian walnuts, lentils and red quinoa, was launched online in September 2025 and expanded into approximately 900 Tesco stores in September 2026. The retail rollout increases the commercial reach of one of the company’s newer products, but Whitworths has not confirmed that any of the three additional production lines will be dedicated to that range.
A separate £1.2 million promotional programme has been announced to support Supermince, including marketing associated with the wider Tesco distribution. That figure relates to commercial promotion and should not be described as the cost of the production equipment or warehousing expansion, for which capital expenditure has not been disclosed.
Whitworths’ financial results and investment programme therefore cover developments with different reporting periods. The accounts describe performance during the year ended in January, while the October reporting identifies the latest production and warehouse expansion activity. The business has not published a separate estimate of the revenue or profit expected from the three new lines.
The additional production capacity will give Whitworths more scope to fulfil customer requirements as its product portfolio develops, supported by increased raw material storage. Further details of the equipment, commissioning programme and intended throughput will establish the operational scale of the expansion beyond the number of lines and pallet positions disclosed.
