A McCain spokesperson said the Hawke\u2019s Bay plant would close at the conclusion of this year\u2019s processing and packing season, which was expected to end by January 31, 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision follows a strategic review of our Hastings operations and reflects a shift in how McCain will supply its vegetable portfolio within Australia and New Zealand,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter carefully considering a range of options, we determined that transitioning to a different supply model is the most responsible path forward and best supports the long-term vision of our organisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcCain is currently consulting with all employees whose roles would be affected by the planned closure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said roles at the site would be affected as operations wound down but would not say how many are at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcCain is consulting and communicating directly with affected employees whose roles may be impacted by providing them with all relevant information about the planned closure, and is also providing dedicated transition assistance, career support, and access to wellbeing services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum said it was \u201cincredibly disappointing\u201d to hear the plant was closing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecisions like this are complex and often driven by global factors, but the consequences are felt locally.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it was another blow for the district and wider region as it comes soon after a Heinz Wattie\u2019s announcement to cut jobs in Hastings<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we see two major processors impacted like this, it also highlights a bigger challenge for regions like ours. The cost of producing, processing and getting goods to market is rising, and energy is a big part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Schollum said for Hastings to remain strong, the district needed to look at its economic and energy resilience, including securing affordable and reliable energy long term.<\/p>\n Labour jobs and income spokeswoman Ginny Andersen said the factory\u2019s impending closure was another blow for workers and the Hawke\u2019s Bay community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Government has added another massive failure to its record. The closure will hit workers, their families and the Hawke\u2019s Bay community hard,\u201d Andersen said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a one-off event at one company; this is part of a broader pattern of closures affecting thousands of jobs across the manufacturing sector under Christopher Luxon\u2019s watch.\u201d<\/p>\n Andersen said business liquidations were at a 15-year high.<\/p>\n \u201cEach one of those jobs lost is a family struggling to pay the bills or a loved one moving to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Heinz Wattie\u2019s proposed to discontinue the sale and production of its frozen vegetables and other products<\/a>. The move would impact 350 roles nationwide, including 50 at the company\u2019s Hastings plant on King St<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke\u2019s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A McCain spokesperson said the Hawke\u2019s Bay plant would close at the conclusion of this year\u2019s processing and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18516,1975,138,651,13741,5194,78,232,183707,111,139,69,4885,70675,7192,6753,61,21980,1533],"class_list":["post-344741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-18516","tag-at","tag-business","tag-close","tag-factory","tag-hastings","tag-in","tag-jobs","tag-mccain","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-plant","tag-processing","tag-risk","tag-shut","tag-to","tag-vegetable","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}