Italpizza explains that this purchase is part of an “internationalization” strategy and plans to recruit “140 employees” within 4 years.
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The Italpizza group signed the purchase agreement for the Buitoni factory in Caudry (North) last Thursday, the company announced on Monday February 5 in a press release consulted by France Bleu Nord. The group bought the frozen pizza production site from Nestlé, owner of the site. It specifies that the financial operation is carried out by its French subsidiary Mantua.fr sas.
The factory has been in turmoil since March 2022 and the health scandal of contaminated pizzas. Two children died and dozens of others became seriously ill after ingesting pizzas from Buitoni’s Fraîch’Up range in 2022, manufactured in its Caudry factory (North). At the end of March 2023, Nestlé announced the permanent closure of the site, which had partially restarted in mid-December, citing the fall in its sales.
More than 12 million investments announced
Italpizza is “the Italian group leading the world in the production of high-end frozen pizzas”, specifies the press release. In addition to the purchase of the Hauts-de-France factory, Italpizza “will allocate more than twelve million euros of investments for modernization work in a multi-year plan which will extend from 2024 to 2028”, announces the company. The factory will only produce pre-baked products on both production lines.
Factory restart planned “for fall 2024, depending on administrative progress. Italpizza wishes to relaunch production from the current year”specifies the Italian group which claims to already have international orders. “The acquisition of the Caudry establishment is fundamental for Italpizza because it is part of a vast internationalization project that we have been carrying out for several yearssays Cristian Pederzini, President of Italpizza. Due to its location and economic attractiveness, the location of the Caudry production site is strategic because it allows us to get closer to fast-growing Northern European markets.”
Italpizza “has already started a process of recruiting around twenty employees whose first mission will be the reconversion and restarting of the manufacturing lines”. Then the group “wish” to hire “before the end of 2028, around 140 employees”.
