Cadbury Schweppes’ French subsidiary, La Pie Qui Chante, is planning to close its plant at Wattignies, near Lille, in northern France, in the next year.


The plant, which opened in 1933, makes the Mi-Cho-Ko brand and employs 142 staff. The closure is set to be announced at an extraordinary meeting of the plant’s works committee on 17 September.


The plant’s capacity, in relation to the size of the current workforce – it had employed as many as 500 staff at its height – is seen as the main factor in the closure. Production lines at Wattignies could be transferred to the group’s plants nearby at Marcq-en Baroeul and Villeneuve-d’Ascq.


By Stuart Todd, just-food.com correspondent

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