Mondeléz International has announced the closure of its biscuit manufacturing plant in Mem Martins, Portugal, moving production to the Opava factory in the Czech Republic.
According to the National Union of Agricultural Workers and of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Industry (Sintab), Mondeléz informed workers it will close the Portuguese plant in the third quarter of 2016, leading to the loss of around 100 jobs. The closure of the factory will also have consequences for some Portuguese suppliers of raw material.
Mondeléz International owns the brands Triunfo and Proalimentar, produced at the factory in the municipality of Sintra.
In a statement, the multinational said that the factory uses "only 35% of its production capacity, a scenario that is already occurring since 2012". Although it invested over €4 million in new equipment and transferred production of other brands to Portugal with the goal of increasing production, it did not manage to achieve “adequate efficiency levels".
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
