FrieslandCampina to close Gütersloh facility in Germany

Dutch dairy cooperative FrieslandCampina is planning to close its Gütersloh facility as part of its ‘comprehensive reorientation’ effort in the German market.

The closure of Gütersloh facility is expected to affect 231 employees working at the site.

FrieslandCampina noted that they have decided to close the site due to years of loss-making production of private label desserts.

As a result of this, the company decided to discontinue this category and shift other product lines to the plants in Cologne, Heilbronn and Maasdam in the Netherlands.

The planned closure in Gütersloh is scheduled to begin in March 2019.

FrieslandCampina Germany managing director Jan Kruise said: “This was a tough decision to make. But previous attempts to fix the problems have failed and after careful consideration of alternative solutions the continued loss-making situation, unfortunately, has left us no other choice.

“We will, of course, very shortly enter into consultation with the employee representatives and we will do everything that is within our power to help the affected employees find new jobs elsewhere.”

The Dutch dairy firm also intends to move its commercial activities to Düsseldorf area in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

For FrieslandCampina, NRW is said to be one of the key regions as many member farmers are located in this area and Tuffi is a strong local brand.

Kruise added: “By relocating and consolidating commercial functions to the Düsseldorf area, we expect FrieslandCampina to benefit from the strong talent base in the area and to drive the Germany strategy more effectively.”

The transfer is scheduled for the second quarter next year, and the workforce at the Heilbronn, Cologne and Schefflenz plants will not be affected by the intended move.