The chief executive of Greencore has said the furore over the food company’s efforts to hire sandwich makers from Eastern Europe was a “self-inflicted wound” that will not be repeated.

Greencore was accused this month of shunning British workers after it revealed that it was seeking staff in Hungary for its factory in Northampton.

Patrick Coveney said the company allowed people to think it was hiring hundreds of staff from Eastern Europe when it was really recruiting for a small number of jobs.

“We made a mess of that in terms of our communication ... This was a self-inflicted wound,” Coveney said. “What is a source of disappointment and frustration to me is that we allowed ourselves to be criticised as someone who isn’t a business I recognise. We haven’t made communication mistakes of that type before and I hope we won’t do it again.”

Coveney, who kept a low profile during the turmoil, rejected accusations that Greencore recruited in Eastern Europe to keep wages down but he said retail customers took a hard line on costs.

“More broadly, the market we operate in is very competitive. There is constant pressure on costs right the way through the system. We have to balance being competitive with continuing to progress people through our business.”

He said only 10% of the group’s employees were on the minimum wage and that after working three months they were given the chance to earn more and to develop a career.

Greencore makes 430m sandwiches a year for supermarkets such as Waitrose, Asda and its biggest customer, Marks & Spencer. It is building an extension to the Northampton factory that will bring in an extra £60m a year of revenue, almost all from M&S.

Pretax profit for the year to 26 September rose 20% to £60.5m. Operating profit, excluding one-off items, rose 11.4% to £82.9m. Coveney’s pay increased to £2.1m from £1.74m the year before, Greencore’s annual report showed.

Revenue at businesses running for a year or more rose 7.4%, driven by growth of 15.3% at the main “food to go” arm which makes sandwiches, sushi and salads. Coveney said much of the growth came from making higher quality sandwiches for the Co-operative Group and extra business from M&S.

He predicted continued strong growth as supermarkets open more convenience stores and sales of upmarket sandwiches rise. He said demand for his products would buck the trend in the stagnant wider grocery market as people do smaller shops at local stores.

“This is a business that has long-term structural growth baked into it. We are confident we can deliver profitable growth not just this year but in the years ahead despite some of the much talked about uncertainty in some of the markets in which we operate.”

Greencore is expanding in the US and has picked up extra business from Starbucks, whose contract brings in about $150m (£96m) of revenue, Coveney said.

“We are investing very significantly into the UK and into the US and we are employing lots of people. Most people are UK nationals and we are giving them good careers.”