Thorntons chocolates have recorded strong demand for its products in supermarkets as well as in high street stores in the country allowing the company to increase its profitability.

Increased sales in supermarkets and other high-street retailers helped the company record profits during the first half of the year. Thorntons has said that sales in stores including Debenhams and WH Smith were higher than its own stores for the first time during the period in the six months till January.

The company’s pre-tax profits increased 47 per cent to £7.2million as the sales to third party retailers increased 14.5 per cent to £70.6million. The company said that the sales at 281 shops rose 2.1 per cent as it invested in refurbishing stores and launched a host of new products. The company was forced to close down 15 outlets during the period. The group is planning to close down a total of 40 stores this year and have a network of about 180 to 200 in the coming years.

The company said that an advertisement campaign based on The Snowman And The Snowdog cartoon boosted Christmas sales helped the company boost sales in the UK.