Heinz Watties has proposed a major job shake-up.
Photo: Supplied / Heinz Watties
The Employers and Manufacturers Association believes there will be a ripple effect right across the country if Heinz Watties goes ahead with its major shake-up.
The company wants to shut its plants in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin and stop the production of a number of products, including frozen vegetables.
The association’s head of advocacy Alan McDonald was surprised by the news.
Employers and Manufacturers Association head of advocacy Alan McDonald.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
“The growers, they’ve got pretty extensive distribution networks, so they will be impacted in some way or form and that’ll ripple out through those communities as well.
“And it’s been a long-standing brand in New Zealand, so people will probably miss it.”
McDonald said the news would be soul-destroying for some whānau.
“In some of those manufacturing businesses and things like the meatworks and stuff and dairy factories, you get multi-generational people working in those areas and those businesses, so it’s pretty tough on a lot of families.”
McDonald said he hoped that some of the 350 staff at risk could be redeployed into the company to lessen the impact, especially on regional communities.
Heinz Watties said further redeployment opportunities would be investigated throughout the course of the year in line with the phased site closures.
It said it would continue to invest in operations, marketing and research and development, to strengthen its resilience and secure long-term growth.
Redundancy packages, career transition and outplacement services, counselling and wellbeing support would be offered to employees.
Concerns over NZ’s food security
A group representing commercial vegetable growers said food security could become a problem if Heinz Watties goes ahead with a proposal to shut down three factories.
Process Vegetables chair David Hadfield told Morning Report the ripple effect of the closure would hit about 220 Canterbury farmers who produced around 36,000 tonnes of peas every year for the company.
“New Zealand has one of the highest yielding areas for peas and it’s an excellent product. But the problem is, New Zealanders aren’t eating enough vegetables.”
Hadfield said while shocked by the proposal, he was not surprised. He said local production costs were high and it was cheaper to import products.
He warned, however, that if food was not grown locally the country was more vulnerable to things like disrupted shipping routes, such as is happening at the moment because of the conflict in the Middle East.
Hadfield said red tape was also partly to blame for the potential closures, and felt regulations in recent years had become burdensome.
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