Swedish confectionery manufacturer Cloetta, producer of brands like Läkerol, Red Band and Sportlife, plans on opening a brand new factory in the Netherlands to replace three existing plants in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Construction starts next year
Cloetta says it will invest around 100 million Swedish kronor (ten million euros) upfront and another 2.5 billion Swedish kronor (250 million euros) over four years in a completely new production site, which is to be both more profitable and more environmentally friendly. Construction should start next year and the new plant should be fully operational in 2026, the company said in a press release on Monday evening.
However, the announcement is bad news for the more than 350 employees who work at Cloetta’s three existing plants in Belgium and the Netherlands. The manufacturer currently has two production sites in Roosendaal and another in Turnhout. These three factories are now being replaced by the new plant and will irrevocably close.
Staff feels sidelined
The majority of them will be offered a job on the new premises, the press release says, but the Belgian unions are nonetheless shocked. They say they were not made aware beforehand, which they say constitutes a clear violation of the ‘Renault law’, Jeffrey Goossens of trade union ACV told newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. This law stipulates that employees and unions must be consulted beforehand.
Moreover, Cloetta does not yet specify where the new factory will be located in the Netherlands. The company has now announced a council meeting and says it will start discussions with the unions. Yet, the unions are already considering protests.
