Kerry Ingrédients France, the French unit of Irish food maker Kerry Group, is to axe 164 jobs at its plant in Apt, in south-east France.
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The firm said a decline in the consumption of fruit and crystallised fruit yoghurts over the past five years had led to the decision to cut jobs at the plant, which employs 330 staff.
Kerry also blamed excess production capacity in the sector for generating competition and hitting prices. The company has invested EUR20m (US$25.6m) at the Apt site since 2003 but group losses have reached EUR16m over that period.
“I am conscious of the scale of these job cuts and we aim to deploy all the means at our disposal to help those workers affected,” said Dan Hayat, MD of Kerry Ingrédients France. “But we have no other choice if we are to ensure our future and be able maintain activity at the site at a maximum level on a durable basis.”
The company plans to revamp the plant’s crystallised fruit range, transfer the fruit preparations for ice cream to another site and stop producing fruit preparations for yoghurt.
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By GlobalData
