Cheese factories face cuts, closure

27-08-2010 | Not Specified

National Foods has refused to rule out closing plants and cutting staff numbers as it begins an extensive review of its Australian cheese plants.

Simpson is among nine sites whose future is clouded after the dairy company announced it would look at the viability and sustainability of its plants.

Having inked a new five-year deal with Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory earlier this month, the Allansford site is excluded from the latest action.

National Foods has already committed to closing its flavoured UHT milk facility at Cobden in December, causing the loss of 21 local jobs.

With workers required to continue at Cobden until the plant closes to receive their full redundancy payments, their ability to gain jobs in other parts of the company is likely to be limited by the review.

Up to 660 workers could be affected by the company's move to streamlines its cheese manufacturing operations.

Plant closures and redundancies are on the table during the review, which is expected to be finalised by February.

"We'll be looking for any potentials of duplication in the network, better ways of doing things," a company spokesman said.

"We're not ruling (closures and redundancies) out by any means. Neither do we want to say anything that might be construed as though that's a preconceived outcome."

The affected plants are Simpson and Campbellfield in Victoria; Jervois and Murray Bridge in South Australia; Kings Meadows, Burnie, King Island and Heidi Farm in Tasmania; and Malanda in Queensland.

  Printable View