Barry Callebaut cuts fewer jobs in Belgium than planned
Published: Tuesday, Dec 10th 2024, 10:30
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Barry Callebaut is cutting fewer jobs in Belgium than planned. According to trade union information following the conclusion of negotiations, there are still around 170 redundancies after 478 redundancies were originally planned.
After ten months of negotiations, employee representatives at the Halle chocolate factory were able to reduce the number of redundancies from 178 to 18, the Christian Trade Union Confederation (CSC) announced in a communiqué on Tuesday. The new boss of the world's largest chocolate manufacturer, Peter Feld, announced in an interview in February that he would be cutting around 2,500 jobs as part of the "BC Next Level" savings program.
According to the Belgian media, 150 jobs will also be cut at the world's largest chocolate factory, Wieze, and the world's largest chocolate warehouse in Lokeren. This is half as many as originally planned, Hans Christiaens, secretary for the services and industry sectors of the SETCa Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde trade union, told the news agency AWP.
Nevertheless, the trade unionists were confident. Barry Callebaut had promised investments in Belgium, especially in Halle. This means that there are prospects for maintaining jobs, said Christiaens. According to CSC trade unionist Abdelhafid El Kadi, the company has promised 55 million Swiss francs for the plant in Halle.
Savings program to generate 250 million
When asked by AWP, a Barry Callebaut spokeswoman confirmed that the consultation talks in Belgium had been concluded. However, she did not want to quantify the exact number of job cuts. "We are very pleased that we have concluded the negotiations with our social partners in Halle", according to Wieze and Lokeren. This means "we now have an agreement for social plans for the whole of Belgium."
With the "BC Next Level" savings program, the company aims to reduce costs by 250 million Swiss francs annually in future. The social plans for the site closures in Norderstedt (Germany), France, Poland, the Netherlands and Port Klang (Malaysia) have already been finalized, the spokesperson explained. Discussions with the social partners regarding the closure of the factory in Intra on Lake Maggiore in Italy are still ongoing.
The Zurich-based group goes back to Octaaf Callebaut, who produced the first chocolate bars in the village of Wieze in 1911. The Belgian company Callebaut merged with the French company Cacao Barry in 1996.
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