FrieslandCampina Cheese plans to close down the Den Hollander Food cheese packaging plant in Lochem and to transfer the activities to the cheese packaging plants in Wolvega and Leerdam. 139 jobs will be lost as a result.
By cutting costs and capitalising on the need for new packaging concepts FrieslandCampina wants to improve its competitive position on the growing European market for sliced and prepacked cheese.
The management of FrieslandCampina Cheese plans to close down the cheese packaging plant in Lochem in the first quarter of 2016. As well as cutting cheese, Den Hollander Food packages cheese in slices, chunks and squares, and in grated form. Den Hollander Food’s current location does not allow FrieslandCampina to key into future packaging requirements.
An amount of 19 million euros will be invested at FrieslandCampina Cheese in Wolvega and Leerdam to set up new packaging lines and accommodate the relocation of packaging lines from Lochem. In the future, the plants in Wolvega and Leerdam will be equipped to handle a greater variety of cheese packaging formats for both the European and the international markets. The number of jobs in those plants will increase by nine.
Redundancy plan
The employees of Den Hollander Food have been informed of the plans. The employee representation bodies have been asked for their formal opinion and the trade unions have been notified. The affected permanent employees will be eligible for the FrieslandCampina Redundancy Plan. The company will do its utmost to find suitable jobs for the employees involved, within or outside FrieslandCampina.
Source: FrieslandCampina
