Frozen food specialist Cook reveals soaring profits after horsemeat crisis

The family-run company, which has 67 shops and sells food through more than 350 independent grocers and farm shops, revealed a 7% jump in like-for-like sales. Total sales surged 20% to £31.9m, according to the Telegraph.

Chief executive Edward Perry said Cook was benefiting from “growing consumer distrust of ‘big business’” as well as increasing demand for “nutritious and high quality convenience food” and the “ongoing cash-rich, time-poor context of our core audience”.

The core element of Cook’s offer is its frozen ready meals. Similar products sold by major grocers including Tesco, Aldi, Asda and Lidl were found to contain horsemeat earlier this year.

Due to this growth, Cook is investing in expanding its existing manufacturing facility and plans to open a second site in 2017-18.

This expansion has also been, in part, due to the growth of Cook’s online business, which sells its frozen food directly to customers through a nationwide delivery service.

Perry said there had been a “permanent and irrevocable” change in the retail industry as sales moved from the high street to the internet.

Perry, who founded the retailer in 1997 alongside chef Dale Penfold, has rejected the chance to sell the food through major supermarket chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Morrisons.