150 UK jobs to go and 24 to transfer to other sites as Givaudan restructures savoury flavours business

However, 150 manufacturing jobs will go as production is transferred from Bromborough to a state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility in Hungary that will serve as Givaudan's European hub for the production of savoury flavours.

“The final figures will depend on the outcome of the consultation but the plan would mean the loss of around 150 manufacturing jobs at Bromborough, the remaining 24 roles being transferable to other sites, including some in the UK,”​ a spokeswoman told FoodManufacture.co.uk.

Expanding the Bromborough site instead of building a new one in Hungary was not a viable option, insisted site manager Kevin Robinson. “Bromborough has a rich heritage and everyone has worked very hard but unfortunately it can no longer meet our needs, and the investments required to upgrade it are prohibitive.​

“The proposed new location ​[in Hungary] means that Givaudan can design and build a greenfield factory for the future enabling it to stay cost competitive and to produce in compliance with modern specifications in the savoury and snacks market.”​

The plan is subject to employee consultation.

Business as usual until 2012​

The new CHF170m (£109m) facility at Makó in Hungary will form a European hub for savoury manufacturing in Europe, and was ideally located to meet growing demand from eastern Europe, said Givaudan, the world's largest supplier of flavours and fragrances.
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The new site – which will produce culinary flavour blends, snack seasonings and spray-dried flavours – should be fully operational in 2013, and would absorb all of the production from Bromborough and a proportion of production from Givaudan’s Kemptthal factory in Switzerland, said Mauricio Graber, president of the firm’s flavour division (pictured).

“It is expected that normal business operations at Kemptthal and Bromborough will continue until 2012.”​

Click here ​for more coverage of the restructuring.