Cranswick plc is a leading UK food producer and supplier of premium, fresh and added-value food products. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

Cranswick was founded by Jim Bloom, Mike Field and twenty-one other East Riding of Yorkshire farmers producing pig feed under the name Cranswick Mill in 1972. The company subsequently diversified into food production. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1985. In 1993 Cranswick diversified into pet products with the purchase of George Buckton and then, in 2009, sold its pet products business. The company has recently moved back to breeding and rearing its own British pigs after acquiring East Anglian Pigs Limited and livestock and assets from Dent Ltd in 2013. Cranswick has developed through a combination of acquisitions and subsequent organic growth, enabling the company to build upon its philosophy of working with artisan producers to provide premium, market leading products to a much wider audience. The Company now serves its customers from twelve production facilities across the UK. On 25 July 2016, the company announced it had sold The Sandwich Factory Holdings Ltd for £15 million to Greencore.

Animal abuse

On 11 March 2023, a site rearing pigs for Cranswick gained media attention after video emerged showing pigs living in squalor with others being left for hours to die. Footage showed bins filled with dead pigs and animals cannibalising each other. On 1 April 2024, footage emerged from a Cranswick site in Norfolk showing workers hitting pigs in the face and back before they entered a carbon dioxide gas chamber. After reviewing the footage the RSPCA stated "alternatives to CO2 [gas chambers] need to be developed as a matter of urgency and we urge the UK government to follow the EU's lead to seek a phase-out by investing in research to find a more humane alternative". Protesters occupied the site on 3 April 2024.

Acquisitions

Operations

Cranswick produces fresh pork, gourmet sausages, cooked meat, air-dried bacon, premium cooked poultry, charcuterie, sandwiches and gourmet pastry products. The Company's brands include Bodega, Weight Watchers, Woodall's, Simply Sausages, Red Lion Foods and the Black Farmer. Cranswick's core market is the UK but the company has a rapidly developing export business serving the European, US and South East Asian markets.