Pear Feels The Pinch

You gotta Rolls with it…

ith Covid having knocked the wind out of everyone’s sales, and sparking the closure of two branches as well as a 39% reduction of its workforce two years ago, it’s would appear that The Happy Pear aren’t quite out of the woods yet.

Which, given that they’re the flagship and poster boy for Greystones reflects the slump many in the town have been dealing with.

Latest Pear figures just released prove just how hard it can be for local businesses, showing recorded losses of €581,003 for 2022 in what finance director Paul Murphy calls “a very challenging year for the business”.

The previous year’s figures for Flynn And Flynn Global Trading Ltd had shown a post-tax profit of €175,993.

Revenues for 2022 fell by 9%, from €5.5 million to €5 million. Interesting to note that, pre-Covid, revenue for 2019 was €9.5 million, whilst the workforce stood at 118. Today, the company employs 74 people, the same as in 2022, the lockdowns having hit the town hard.

Talking to The Irish Times, Murphy said of the latest figures, “Within our wholesale production business, we encountered cost inflation in our ingredients cost base, which put significant pressure on our margins.” There was also “a fall-off in digital sales in 2022 as the Covid boom in online courses tapered off.

“The business is not expected to return to profit in 2023.”

We reckon it’s all Rise’s fault. And the quasi-closure of The Cliff Walk. But, hey, the Flynnstones put Greystones on the foodie map, and the lads clearly know what they’re doing.

Okay, the numbers game. The 2022 loss for The Happy Pear takes account of combined non-cash amortisation and depreciation costs of €261,322, plus €142,033 in operating lease costs. The company also received €65,817 in Covid-19 wage subsidy payments.

Still, for Murphy, The Happy Pear future looks bright, especially after the twins raised €2.59m from a crowd investment round in June of this year. These funds will be used for the expansion of Happy Pear products into the UK and beyond, and to grow the Happy Pear App and digital business.

The directors “were delighted to welcome 1,068 new shareholders to the company,” says Murphy, with six of these investing between €50,000 and €250,000. Of the others, 734 acquired shares up to the value of €1,000.

Murphy also noted that the majority of the new shareholders were female. Who all no doubted wanted to hold a little bit of the twins in their hands.

So, onwards and upwards, lads. You can go explore out Happy Pear archives right about here. And go support your local shops here.