The makers of the Glenisk organic yogurt brand last year sustained a €9.59m revenue hit due to the impact of a fire that destroyed the firm's main production plant in 2021.

However, new consolidated accounts show that the Cleary family owned Cordagrove Ltd recorded a pre-tax profit of €5.14m for 2022.

This was due to 'other operating income' of €10.8m that was mainly made up of an insurance payout though no breakdown is provided in the accounts.

The 'other operating income' includes Government grants of €657,718 and Commercial Director with Glenisk, Ms Emma Walls confirmed that the insurance payout "inflated the operating income" but declined to provide the exact amount.

The other operating income of €10.8m for 2022 compares to ‘other operating income’ of €1.94m for 2021.

The September 2021 fire destroyed the company’s production plant and revenues of €21.26m for 2021 declined by 45% last year to €11.67m.

Ms Walls said that "2022 was a very challenging year for Glenisk".

She said that the firm recommenced yogurt production in early February 2022 with the launch of three individual product lines.

She said that products were reintroduced during the year on a phased basis with the individual product lines count reaching 40 by year end.

She said that this represented less than half of Glenisk’s pre-fire individual product lines.

She said that the smaller number of individual products "and the fact that we did not trade for a full year had a significant impact on revenue, all of which is linked to the fire at the end of September 2021".

Ms Walls said that Glenisk is the fastest growing brand in the yogurt category business and has made progress in 2023 with 69 individual products in production.

She said: "The business will not achieve pre-fire revenues in 2023 but, based on rate of growth, we are optimistic that 2024 sales will bring us closer."

Ms Walls said: "Glenisk continues to invest heavily in infrastructure at the Killeigh site to return capacity to 100% of pre-fire volumes."

The business currently employs 78 and Ms Walls said: "There were no forced redundancies or lay-offs arising from the fire. The business is committed to retaining staff."

Staff costs last year declined from €5.34m to €4.38m.

Ms Walls said: "Notwithstanding the significant challenges of the past two years, the business is optimistic about its recovery and future growth. Glenisk is a resilient business."

She said: "Established more than 35 years ago, it has successfully navigated many challenges in its history and its success has been built on its commitment to organics, its brand differentiation and its category innovation."

Nine members of the Cleary family are involved in the business.

Ms Walls said that the most popular flavour in yogurt remains Natural, followed by Vanilla.

The profit for last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €397,829 and Research & Development spend of €2.66m.

In June of this year, the Cleary family re-assumed 100 per cent ownership of the business after Danone sold its 38 per cent share in the business.

Reporting by Gordon Deegan