The gourmet food producer Maggie Beer Holdings is close to finalising the sale of two troublesome dairy businesses which sent the group plunging to a heavy loss in 2021-22 as some customers start to become more value conscious.

Chief executive Chantale Millard says the broader group, which makes cooking stock, broths, ice-cream, soup, cheese and quince paste, is still assessing whether to push through more price rises , after clawing back climbing freight and supply chain costs from a round of increases in February.