Employees at a Biscuit International factory in France are on strike for a second day amid complaints over working conditions.
Staff at the site in the southern town of Montauban claim conditions have “deteriorated” and workers are “burnt out”.
There are concerns about the level of maintenance at the site and a “lack of investment” at the factory despite warnings from workers, a trade union statement read.
Staff have been “working on public holidays” while employees feel managers should make themselves more available to their teams.
There is, the statement added, “a lack of trust and consideration for workers: we must put people back at the heart of the company”.
The strike action started yesterday (11 September), has continued today and “is expected to continue until Monday, possibly longer”, an official at the FGTA-FO trade union told Just Food.
“The entire factory is at a standstill; 100% of employees are on strike out of a workforce of 391,” the official added.
Just Food has approached Biscuit International for comment.
Private-label manufacturer Biscuit International has 32 factories across nine European countries. It employs over 5,000 staff.
The company has had a presence in Montauban since the 1880s when biscuit business Poult was formed.
A decade ago, Poult merged with Dutch counterpart Banketgroep, forming Biscuit International.
The business grew further during the rest of the 2010s through the acquisitions of A&W Feinbackwaren in Germany, Northumbrian Fine Foods in the UK, Stroopwafel & Co. and Aviateur in the Netherlands, plus Arluy in Spain.
In 2020, US private-equity firm Platinum Equity acquired Biscuit International from France’s Qualium Investissement, which had controlled the business since 2014 when it bought a majority stake in Poult.
Biscuit International CEO Leon Taviansky took the helm at the business at the start of 2023.
The company generated revenues of €1.2bn ($1.41bn) in 2024.
