In order to prevent the salad from killing them, Bonduelle’s managers have decided to simply stop selling and producing it in France and Germany, the group announced in a press release. This activity should be sold to two groups, all accompanied by a restructuring of the company.
“For about ten years, the Bonduelle group has been facing a structural decline in salad consumption in France and Germany, aggravated by the inflationary context,” the company said. For France, this represents a 15% drop in turnover in seven years, the company said. 20 Minutes.
Site closure and departure plan
This Thursday, Bonduelle will announce to its employees a project to cease the salad activity in the two countries concerned. The project first concerns the future of the Fresh Europe bagged salad production plant in Saint-Mihiel, Lorraine, which Bonduelle plans to close at a date that has not been communicated. However, the group assures that it is looking for a buyer for the site and its 159 employees.
The restructuring also concerns the headquarters of Bonduelle frais France, in Genas, in the Meuse, where the group intends to “lighten the structure”, in other words to eliminate positions. However, there is no question of layoffs at this stage, Bonduelle affirming to 20 Minutes that “there will be a voluntary departure plan for around forty people, the terms of which will be discussed with the social partners.”
But it is not because Bonduelle is struggling to sell its bagged salads in France and Germany that consumers are turning their backs on this type of product. The group notably cites “increased competition from distributor brands” to explain the drop in turnover in this activity. The manufacturer has also opened exclusive negotiations with Les Crudettes, a company in the LSDH group “for the takeover of its bagged salad business in France”. As for Germany, Bonduelle is in talks with the American salad giant Taylor Farms.