Irish agribusiness group Greencore this morning said like-for-like sales in the group's convenience-food categories rose 6.5 per cent in the first quarter.
The group's British convenience food businesses will spend about €350 million in the current financial year on raw materials with inflation of more than 5 per cent, on average, being experienced in those markets, it added.
Raw material price inflation for all British food producers is running at a higher rate than has been experienced for a number of years, the company said.
Greencore is looking to offset these increases through a number of ways including price increases, and the company expects to make further progress in 2004.