Salter owner Ultimate Products cooks up sales boom as Brits spend more time in the kitchen

Salter mixer owner Ultimate Products is enjoying a jump in sales as a boom in cooking at home drives Brits to upgrade their domestic appliances.

The homewares company today reported revenues of £85.7 million in the six months to January 31 — growth of 13.7% on the previous year.

Ultimate Products, whose Salter-branded goods are advertised by Heston Blumenthal, put increased demand for its cooking and cleaning products down to “a long-term change in consumer behaviour to more home cooking, working and cleaning” in its most recent annual report.

Like most businesses, the Oldham-based company has been battling supply chain problems but today said there were “early signs of improvement and the board is cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind the group.”

Ultimate Products acquired the Salter brand for £34 million in July 2021, having previously used it under licence. Founded in 1760, Salter is the UK’s oldest houseware brand, known for its digital kitchen scales, mixers and cookware. The company also built the first English typewriter in 1895.

Oldham-based Ultimate Products, which employs over 300 staff, is now eyeing expansion in Europe, having recently opened a new distribution centre in the Netherlands. It has already established a showroom in Cologne, Germany.

Less than 10% of Ultimate Products’ revenues relate to exports from the UK to the EU, according to the company’s 2021 annual report, but the company aims to increase this to 30% in the medium-to-long term.

The company struggled with low inventory levels following reduced shipping capacity from its base in Guangzhou, China, last year.