66 jobs at risk as AGRANA responds to 'weak' yoghurt market

In response to what the company says is the continuingly weak development of the market for fruit yo…

In response to what the company says is the continuingly weak development of the market for fruit yoghurts in Europe, AGRANA has announced that it will optimise the organisational structure of its fruit preparations division in Austria, with the AGRANA site in Gleisdorf (Styria) as its sole Austrian production facility for fruit preparations. The fruit preparations plant in Kröllendorf (Lower Austria), which had been operating at below capacity, will be relocated to the larger fruit preparations facility in Gleisdorf. The intention is to complete the relocation process by the end of the financial year 2014|15.

This move by AGRANA is necessary, the company said, in order to counter the overcapacity which has arisen in the European fruit preparations market in recent years as a result of which there has been pressure on the margins of all fruit preparations producers.

The aim is to offer some of the 66 personnel employed in the fruit preparations production plant in Kröllendorf jobs at other AGRANA sites – ideally at the fruit juice concentrate facility in Kröllendorf or in the fruit preparations plant at the Gleisdorf site.

At the Kröllendorf site and in a joint venture with Raiffeisen Ware Austria, AGRANA operates both the production facility as well as the head office of the Fruit Juice division, which operates under the name Austria Juice. This company is not affected by the changes, according to AGRANA. With its plant in Kröllendorf and a further 13 international production facilities, AGRANA said that it aims to consolidate its role as a leading supplier of fruit juice concentrates, fruit purées, beverage bases, natural flavourings and NFC juices to the down-stream beverages industry.