Goodman Fielder to slash New Zealand jobs
Date: 17 Feb 2012
Embattled food giant Goodman Fielder is to axe jobs in New Zealand.
The dual-listed company, which cut 300 jobs mostly in its baking division in Australia in the first half of the financial year, has already begun discussions at least one of its New Zealand sites.
Goodman Fielder told investors in September it was cutting costs through its programme Project Renaissance and had identified annual savings of $15 million in New Zealand, which it expected to achieve within two years.
Overall, it seeks to reduce the company's cost base by A$100m by 2015, with A$40m of that to be delivered in the 2012/2013 financial year.
The company yesterday reported an ''unacceptable'' interim net profit of A$21.5m ($27.7m), down 77 per cent from A$93.1m at the same time a year ago.
Robert Reid, general secretary of First Union, confirmed the company had entered into redundancy restructuring discussions in the last few weeks involving at least one major plant.
It will probably lead to job losses, he said.
Reid would not reveal which plant was involved or which sector the jobs may come from.
He was uncertain about how many plants might be in talks. ''Because it's such a diverse company, there are probably five or six unions involved.
Goodman Fielder could not be reached for comment.
The owner of brands including Quality Bakers, Nature's Fresh, Edmonds and Irvines, has blamed subdued consumer confidence, heavy discounting, home brand resurgence and business disruption from natural disasters for squeezing volumes.
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