A Norfolk food firm which saw 256 workers test positive for Covid has battled back to record a £62m profit.

Eastern Daily Press: The Cranswick Country Foods base in Watton.The Cranswick Country Foods base in Watton. (Image: Archant)

Sales of Cranswick Country Food's cooked meats and continental-style olives and sun-dried tomatoes jumped by 21.5pc.

The rise was attributed to more people eating at home in lockdown.

The firm added that its sausage, bacon and pastry business also performed particularly strongly, as more cooked breakfasts were eaten by those in lockdown.

Eastern Daily Press: More people eating a good old fry-up breakfast was attributed to helping Cranswick Country Food's profits to rise, selling more bacon and sausages.More people eating a good old fry-up breakfast was attributed to helping Cranswick Country Food's profits to rise, selling more bacon and sausages. (Image: Archant)

The good news came after the Norfolk base in Brandon Road, Watton, saw workers test positive for coronavirus last month.

Chief executive Adam Couch said only four people out of those testing positive had developed symptoms.

He said the the site, where the cases broke out in the butchery division, was "fully up and running" again now. The firm had received three visits from health and safety officials and received "a clean bill of health," he added.

"We just keep pressing on in very difficult circumstances, we have an amazing workforce who continue to come to work in unprecedented times to help put food on people's tables." Cranswick's £62m operating profit for the six months to September 26, compared with £47.4m for the same period last year.

Meanwhile, revenues jumped by 21pc to £931.6m for the half-year.

The firm, which also has a major processing plant in Eye, Suffolk, spent more than £8m in response to the virus which disrupted operations at the Norfolk site and also in Northern Ireland, where they also had a coronavirus outbreak.

However, it said it had been "able to manage this disruption to minimise the impact on our customers", due to the diversity of its sites across the business.

There were a total of 1,077 people tested at Cranswick but 256 with positive results.