A month on from the World Cup Final, LVF Packaging has identified the real winners of this summer’s football extravaganza: beef burgers!
During every international football tournament, the Leeds-based packaging manufacturer revealed it sees a surge in demand for the meat trays the firm manufactures for UK supermarket chains – with products suitable for barbecues particularly popular.
Beef burgers and sausages were the big winners for LVF Packaging this year, with its recently finalised July sales figures showing a 20% uptick, with burgers just ahead. Meatball trays also fared particularly well.
Dan Coates, business development director of LVF Packaging, said, “Every two years we brace ourselves for a big increase in demand for meat trays and this year’s World Cup was a real bonanza on the basis it coincided with the sunniest summer I can ever remember. Burger sales were buoyant, sausage sales sizzled and, for us, our meatball trays went from minnows to third place magnificence – putting them pretty much on a par with England in the tournament proper!
“And it was a great relief for us all after the winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022, when there was absolutely no BBQ bounce due to it happening when the nights had well and truly drawn in and the temperatures had plummeted.”
One element of BBQ sales reported by various retailers is that hot dog sales rose during the tournament, benefiting, apparently, from the desire of British fans to give their events an American-style match-day atmosphere.
LVF Packaging, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2025, says meat trays make up a good proportion of annual sales, with the summer providing vastly differing demand from one week to the next.
The shift in seasonal volumes isn’t minimal. One of LVF’s largest customers was won when they were let down by a supplier before a forecast sunny Bank Holiday surge. With less than 48 hours notice, LVF manufactured and delivered on time over 500,000 burger trays.
“Things aren’t often that extreme, but the fact we can do it when asked, stands us in exceptionally good stead with current customers and possible new ones when order volumes suddenly increase,” Dan added. “It is worth noting that we are now the sole burger tray supplier for the customer who needed those half a million trays in a huge hurry.”
LVF Packaging said its flexibility comes from a programme of investment that has seen the business spend heavily on new production lines in recent years. The shopfloor currently boasts five Kiefel KMD Speedformers, a Siropack padding line, and an Illig RV53.
“We have manufacturing facilities on a par with some of the massive packaging businesses,” Dan stated. “But unlike them, we’re a small, family-owned business and so if we’re asked for a quick turnaround, high volume job we can say yes or no straightaway; rather than the request getting lost in red tape or buried at the bottom of a management meeting agenda.”
Planning ahead, LVF Packaging is already looking forward to Euro 2028, which will be hosted in the UK and Ireland.
“Big football tournaments here at home are always huge for us,” concluded Dan. “Euro 2021 delivered record sales and I’m absolutely certain that when football comes home in 2028, we’ll be busier than ever before.”
