About Nomad Foods

Nomad Foods Limited operates as a frozen foods company in Europe. The company has a portfolio of best-in-class food brands within the frozen category, including fish, vegetables, poultry, meals, pizza and ice cream. The company’s products are sold primarily through large grocery retailers under the Birds Eye brand in the U.K. and Ireland, Findus in Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway, iglo in Germany and other continental markets, La Cocinera in Spain, Ledo in south-eastern Europe and Frikom in Serbia and North Macedonia. For the categories in which the company operates, it maintains the number one position in sixteen European geographies, namely the U.K., Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Portugal, Ireland, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and North Macedonia. The countries representing the company’s top six markets for branded goods, collectively UK, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden and Austria, represented approximately 80% of the total European Savory frozen food markets. Brands The company’s brands are household names with long histories and local heritage in their respective markets. The company’s Birds Eye brand is primarily marketed in the U.K. and Ireland. The Findus brand, which is marketed in Italy, France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway, was formed in Italy in 1941 and has a loyal following in each of its respective geographies. The iglo brand has a long-standing history and is marketed in Germany and other continental European countries. Strategy The company’s strategy is underpinned by three fundamental pillars which are to expand the category, grow the core and accelerate innovation. In addition, the company has developed and made significant progress in implementing various strategic initiatives, including build an integrated group of best-in-class food companies and brands within existing and related food categories and expand its geographic footprint through strategic acquisitions; focus on Core products as a foundation for long-term growth; align its business with consumer preferences and trends; leverage its acquisition expertise, strong management team and access to capital to identify and evaluate attractive growth opportunities; and respond to changing consumer shopping habits and drive advertising efficiency and impact. Products The company manufactures, markets, and distributes the following frozen food products: Fish: Includes frozen fish products such as fish fingers, coated fish and natural fish. Vegetables: Includes ready to cook vegetable products such as peas and spinach. Meals: Includes ready to cook noodles, pasta, lasagna, pancakes and other ready-made meals under the iglo, Findus and La Cocinera brand names. Poultry: Includes frozen poultry and meat products, such as nuggets, grills and burgers. Ice Cream: Following the Fortenova Acquisition, includes in home and out of home ice cream. Others: Includes a variety of other offerings such as soups, pizza, bakery goods and meat substitutes. The company continues to place a strong emphasis on renovation of its existing Core products in order to overcome penetration barriers and continue to build loyalty. For example, in 2022, the company introduced under its new innovation platforms Wholesome Grains (coated fish assortment), Veg with Sauce (modern vegetable blends) and continued to focus on Green Cuisine (plant-based protein sub-brand). The company manages renovation and innovation centrally on European common product platforms and have more local involvement where products are differentiated and country specific. The company’s research and development continues to be centralized, allowing it to leverage its research and development investment across its markets and focus on its largest Core products. Customers The company’s customers are typically supermarkets and large food retail chains supplying food products directly to consumers. Each key market in which it operates has its own distinct retail landscape. The company considers its key retailer clients to be, in the U.K., Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s; in Italy, Coop, Conad and Esselunga; in Germany, Rewe and Edeka; in Sweden, ICA, Axfood and Coop; and in France, Carrefour, Auchan and E.Leclerc. The majority of the company’s sales are to established retailers and it expects this channel to remain its most significant channel for the foreseeable future. The company partners with traditional retailers when it identifies commercial or marketing opportunities that can be of interest for both businesses. The food service channel accounted for approximately 8% of the company’s total sales for the year ended December 31, 2022. The majority of these sales were in the Nordics, Croatia and Spain and consisted primarily of sales to institutional and public sector customers such as schools and hospitals, and privately run work canteens and restaurants. The past few years have been a challenge in this sector, with governmental restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic having a significant adverse impact on sales in 2020 and 2021. Sales and Marketing The company’s commercial strategy is centered around its Core products and its growth model focuses on three core elements: creating distinctive brands through leveraging its iconic brand assets, innovating to break penetration barriers balanced between renovation and innovation, and executing in store through category leadership driving the right assortment, display and promotional efficiency. The company’s brand equity strategy aims to further increase brand awareness. The company is utilizing its core iconic assets at all consumer touchpoints including traditional media, digital media, point of sale and packaging. Furthermore, the company has invested and will continue to seek to invest at sufficient levels of media on all its Core products. The company maintains sales teams in each of its Key Markets with a small proportion of sales being sold via a distribution model. The company’s sales force is resourced to provide good store coverage. The company has been chosen to lead category management projects by several leading supermarkets in each of its main product categories and has developed innovative presentations of its frozen food products and in-store marketing concepts with supermarkets in a number of its markets in order to increase shopper traffic and sales. Most recently, the company has developed and is executing its Perfect Store concept which focuses on improving a consumer’s in-store shopping experience through presentation, layout and signage. Seasonality The company’s sales and working capital levels have historically been affected to a limited extent by seasonality. In general, sales volumes for savory frozen food are slightly higher in colder or winter months and variable production costs and working capital will vary depending on the harvesting and buying periods of seasonal raw materials, in particular vegetable crops. For example, inventory levels typically peak in August to September just after the pea harvest and as a result, more working capital is required during those months. The Fortenova Acquisition in September 2021 follows a different seasonality to the legacy business, with stronger performance through the summer months behind the ice-cream business. Intellectual Property The company has over 2000 trademarks across all its markets around the world. On the patent side, the dedicated drive to protect the business' innovations and new technology continues, particularly in the area of plant-based food products, packaging and food coatings - the business has 20 pending or registered patents in place across the U.K. and Europe. The company monitors, protects and enforces its trademark rights in all local brands including Birds Eye, iglo, Findus, Green Cuisine, Aunt Bessie's, Goodfella's, Frikom, Ledo, La Cocinera and Belviva, across the U.K., Europe and its export markets. Regulations As a manufacturer of foods intended for human consumption, the company is subject to extensive legislation and regulation both from the European Union, the EU Member States and European free trade association (EFTA) members, the U.K. adopted legislation and other European countries in which it operates. The majority of the company’s manufacturing facilities have a detailed environmental management system which are externally audited on an annual basis for compliance with ISO 14001 or BRC. History Nomad Foods Limited was founded in 2014.