Europe-wide restructuring

At the beginning of March Masterfoods Europe put concrete proposals to its employees regarding restructuring of the company. At the heart of these proposals, which affect around 2 000 staff in all areas and at all levels, is a plan to cut 1 100 jobs. The Mars subsidiary is thus reacting to the ongoing fall-off in sales that the company has suffered in Europe in the last year in particular. Masterfoods Europe confirms that job losses directly due to the drop in sales are expected to be avoided as far as possible by voluntary redundancies, early retirements, relocations and outplacement.
The Verden canning factory in Germany should continue to play an important role, although plans are in hand to combine two canning lines. It is also proposed to set up a European product innovation centre for wet pet food in Verden that will integrate all functions from research and development and marketing to purchasing and market research.
The days when Masterfoods products packed shelves are gone. The Mars subsidiary has fallen victim above all to the continuing boom in private label products.
With 700 jobs set to be axed there, the UK will probably be affected far more by the company’s new rationalisation programme than Germany. However, the tinned pet food factory in Leicestershire should continue to feature as a key location, with planned investment to upgrade the existing production line for cat food in freshness pouches. An European product innovation centre for dry food and pet treats is to be set up in Birstall, Yorkshire, and all the individual operating stages across Europe are to be combined here too.
Up to 250 jobs are expected to go in France, although the canning factory in Saint-Denis  de l'Hôtel, Loiret, will still play a major part in wet pet food production, with the canning lines being reconfigured. The production line for freshness pouch dog food is to be closed. As in Germany, the business in France is to be reorganised into product-category-specific units in preparation for targeted restructuring. Day-to-day business is also to be rationalised and local responsibility and competence strengthened in all functions such as production, engineering, logistics, R & D, purchasing, sales, personnel, finance and IT.
Pierre Laubies, president of Masterfoods Europe, said: “We need to be leaner and more focused. We aim to capture the dynamism of a small business with the benefits of international scale.”
Masterfoods Europe employs over 11 000 staff and is the…