Lavazza keeps lid on price rises to boost volumes in 2022

Lavazza has boosted turnover by 17.6% to €2.7bn as the coffee products group kept a lid on price rises and increased volumes across all the markets in which it operates.

Soaring costs of green coffee, packaging, energy, logistics and freight saw EBITDA fall slightly in 2022 to €309m, compared with €312m in the prior year, while margin slipped from 13.5% to 11.4%.

The Italian group said it supported margin through close cost management and “careful” use of price increases, but it chose to absorb a substantial amount of higher input costs and pass only a portion on to consumers.

The sharper pricing helped volume performance, increased sales and saw the group outperform the market.

CEO Antonio Baravalle said: “The 2022 results represent another milestone for our group. Despite the particularly challenging scenario, we have been successful in sustaining turnover growth and keeping the margin in line with previous years.”