Primula cheese maker sends millions to charitable trust despite dip in profits

Kavli said its 2025 results were impact by a familiar set of challenges

The makers of Primula cheese says reduced sales and higher costs have impacted profits.

But Gateshead-based Kavli UK Limited, part of the wider Scandinavian food group, has paid £3.6m to its charitable trust owner which distributes profits to good causes across the country. Newly published accounts of Kavli UK, which runs the Team Valley factory employing more than 280 people, show a 2.1% drop in turnover from £50.8m to £49.7m in 2025 and a fall in operating profits from £4.2m to £3.6m.

A dividend of £14m was also paid during the year through a share capital reduction move. Kavli said the results showed the impact of reduced sales, input cost price increases and higher labour costs.

The business is owned by the Kavli Trust, which since the early 1960s has existed to generate profits for good causes. Its giving is spread across three key “pillars” including 60% charitable work, 30% research and 10% culture.

Earlier this year, the Trust awarded more than £67,000 to Newcastle Carers for a pilot project providing structured and individual follow-up for young carers. It aims to break patterns of exclusion and mental strain by reducing the burden of care and helping children manage school and everyday life.

Ingrid Paasche, chief executive of Kavli Trust, said of the project: “Many young carers take on significant responsibility at an age when they should have freedom and security. This project gives them the opportunity to reclaim their everyday lives and to live fully at school and in their free time, while being seen, guided and supported.”

And in February, the Trust awarded more than £239,000 over three years to North East theatre group Mortal Fools. The organisation’s “Creative Health – National Development” initiative combines award-winning digital school programmes with local delivery in schools and communities.

With a focus on early intervention and prevention through creative activity, the project aims more than 50,000 children and young people during the 2025–2027 project period. The support from Kavli will also help train teachers and healthcare professionals.

Kavli was founded in 1893 by Olav Kavli, who opened a small cheese shop in Bergen, Norway. In 1924, he established his first factory, where he went on to invent the world’s first spreadable cheese – Primula – marking the beginning of what the company calls an exciting journey of innovation and growth.

Now, Kavli Holding AS owns and operates companies in Norway, Sweden, Finland and the UK, and employs more than 1,000 people. The group’s brands include Kavli, Q-Meieriene, Skyr, Primula, Castle MacLellan, Eriks, Johnny’s and El Taco Truck.