the Caudry plant shut down due to a drop in sales

Perhaps the first step before the final closure of the Buitoni pizza factory in Caudry in the North. Due to a drop in sales, Nestlé France announced to employees, Thursday, March 2, the suspension of the activity of the establishment, at the heart of a serious health scandal. The factory, which had partially reopened in December, produced pizzas raw dough of the Fraîch’Up range, suspected of having caused the death of two children and the poisoning of dozens of others by the E.coli bacterium

The factory had partially reopened in mid-December after nine months of shutdown, but the production line in question had never resumed its activity. Only the line of pizzas with cooked dough, not affected by the scandal, had been authorized to restart. The company has so far only announced to employees a “temporary suspension” activity with immediate effect. The factory’s approximately 200 employees will keep their salaries pending a final decision on their factory.

“The frozen pizza market has fallen by 20% in one year and has had an even greater impact on the Buitoni brand.”

a spokesperson for Nestlé France

at AFP

“Despite all the efforts made to ensure that the plant restarts in the best conditions in December 2022, the deterioration in the outlook for orders has forced Nestlé France to react”he added. “Distributors are closing their doors to us”deplores Stéphane Derammelaere, delegate of Force Ouvrière, to The voice of the North.