Avara Foods proposes closure of Abergavenny site

The manufacturer cited significant inflationary pressure in fuel, commodities and labour since the COVID-19 pandemic as major drivers behind its proposal, which had driven up pricing and significantly reduced demand for UK-produced turkey in the retail market.

Avara has spent the past six months exploring a range of options to enable its wider business to compete effectively in the market in the future, including different potential uses for the Abergavenny site.

Moving production from Abergavenny

However, this process identified that volumes could be processed more efficiently on other operations with lower capital investment, leading to the proposal to close the site.

In a statement, a spokesman for the business said: “This difficult decision has not been taken lightly and in no way reflects on the hard-working colleagues. ​

“In the coming days Avara will begin a collective consultation process with the individuals that are affected by this proposal. The nature of this consultation means that no final decisions have been made and there will be no speculation as to how the process will conclude.”​

Factory history

The Abergavenny site was acquired as part of Faccenda’s purchase of Turkey processor Cranberry Foods in 2012​​. Avara was formed in 2018 as a joint venture between Cargill’s UK fresh poultry business and Faccenda.

News of the proposed closure of Avara Abergavenny comes just over one year (April 2022) after the manufacturer announced it had invested more than £4m inro its processing sites in Hereford and Telford, following a previous £12m investment in automation earlier that same year.

Meanwhile, last week, meat processor Pilgrim’s UK proposed plans to close its Ashton-under-Lyne site,​​ putting 542 roles at the risk of redundancy.

Vice-president of human resources Rachel Baldwin said the proposals were “unfortunately essential to ensure a sustainable future for our team members across the UK”.​