The global food company Goodman Fielder announced yesterday its plans to close down bakeries in Western Australia (WA) and Queensland — which may affect about more than 200 employees.
“Today’s announcements continue Goodman Fielder’s investment commitment across all of its markets with over $650 million being planned between 2016 [to] 2019 — of which approximately $200 million will be in Australia,” said Scott Weitemeyer, chief executive of the company.
The changes came in as part of the company’s strategy to allocate and invest in other locations, to either relocate or close others to build a more sustainable business. The planned changes to the company’s baking business are across its WA, Queensland, NSW and ACT operations.
About 75 employees in Perth are expected to receive a full redundancy package when the Malaga bakery closes on May 1, while approximately 140 production jobs across two sites in Queensland could be made redundant if proposals to relocate get the green light following discussions with workers.
Meanwhile, Goodman Fielder agreed to a commercial supply with a third party in Perth for the manufacturing of its products and brands for the WA region. This decision leads to the company ceasing its operations at its Malaga bakery in May.
“[Yesterday’s] announcement is part of our group-wide strategy to generate efficiencies across our baking network,” Coates explained regarding the matter. “We are consolidating our manufacturing network and investing in larger capacity sites to create a more sustainable business for the long term.”
Once Goodman Fielder receives an approval in Queensland, the production of garlic bread will be relocated from its Hemmant site to its Moorebank bakery in NSW while the Carina bakery will be moved to the Burleigh Heads facility. About 140 production jobs will be retained at these said locations.
“We remain committed to our customers and consumers in each of the impacted areas and our plans are focused on ensuring they continue to receive daily fresh deliveries from Goodman Fielder,” Coates further added on the recent decision of company.
Goodman Fielder anticipates creating more than 60 new positions at the Burleigh Heads, Moorebank and Canberra facilities as the company further invests to accommodate increased production capacity at these sites. The company brands include Wonder White, Mighty Soft, Helga’s and Meadow Lea.