Heinz plans European plants closure

American food company HJ Heinz has outlined plans to close two manufacturing facilities in Europe, putting nearly 350 jobs at risk.

The closures are part of the company’s comprehensive and ongoing process to review its European supply chain footprint.

The new owners of Heinz, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and private equity firm 3G Capital, are restructuring the company’s operations and have recently announced job cuts in the UK and Ireland and North America.

As part of the latest announcement, the company is set to shut its plants in Turnhout, Belgium, and Seesen, Germany, and shift the production at these sites to other facilities across Europe.

The Seesen plant, which has 190 workers, produces fridge pack-format beans and pasta products as well as infant feeding tray meals, while the Turnhout facility manufactures foodservice single portion and bulk sauce packages and employs 157 people.

Heinz corporate and government affairs senior vice president Michael Mullen said, "Our proposal to consolidate manufacturing across Heinz Europe, if implemented, would be a critical step in our plan to ensure we are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible to become more competitive in a challenging environment, and to accelerate the company’s future growth."

Last year, Heinz was taken private by an investment consortium comprised of Berkshire Hathaway and private equity firm 3G Capital, in a $28bn deal.

Following the acquisition, the new management has started reviewing the company’s global operations, as part of efforts to lower costs.