the Knorr factory, victim of changes in eating habits, closes

The Duppigheim plant in Alsace is no longer competitive. This is the diagnosis of the multinational food company Unilever, maker of Knorr soups. It has therefore decided to close this production site which is located a few kilometers from Strasbourg. For the 261 employees, present in the company for “30 or even 40 years”, according to Olivier Dietrich, union delegate of the CFTC, it is really a “big disappointment”.

“Some employees have grown up with this factory. And overnight, they are told that we are ceasing the activity and that they have no more work. It is painful to hear,” says Olivier Dietrich, d a weary voice. In this factory, employees mainly produced brick soups but also sauces, dehydrated soups and cornstarch, according to the CFTC union representative.

Hyper-processed products abandoned by the French

Hyper-processed industrial foods that are out of fashion. This observation has been felt all the more since the start of the coronavirus crisis. “Since the pandemic, people have been at home, working from home, they have more time to take care of the kitchen,” says Olivier Dietrich. As a result, the volumes produced at Duppigheim have plummeted by more than 17% in five years.

Unions and employees are now focusing on their discussions with the Unilever group, agribusiness giant with 50 billion euros in turnover in 2020, to negotiate the terms of departure and reclassifications.