Heinz has announced plans to close two plants in Europe as the US food giant continues to restructure its business after last year’s sale to 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway.
The ketchup manufacturer has set out proposals to shut a factory in Turnhout in Belgium and a site in Seesen in Germany.
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The Turnhout plant makes a range of foodservice single portion and bulk sauce packs, while the Seesen plant makes Heinz Fridge Packs of beans and pasta. It also makes infant feeding tray meals.
Heinz intends for production at the Turnhout facility to move to a plant in Telford in the UK. Manufacturing at Seesen would move to co-packers.
The company, which said the closures would lead to the loss of around 350 jobs, would “consolidate manufacturing and eliminate excess capacity”.
Heinz added: “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.”
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By GlobalDataSince the takeover of Heinz last year, the company has revamped parts of its business, which has led to plant closures in North America and jobs cut in the UK and Ireland. The changes to Heinz’s North American business also saw the company invest further in five plants across the US and Canada.
