130 jobs axed at VION Food Group

VION Food and Ingredients will close its pork manufacturing site in the Netherlands to restructure its operations there and in Germany, further concentrating on pork and beef markets.

VION Food Boxtel will take over the activities of VION Food Helmond. The Helmond location will be closed with about 130 job cuts.

The company said in a statement the changes are part of a complete restructure to restore financial results in the pork market.

It said it will try to re-assign staff internally but this depends on a redundancy scheme, which needs to be agreed upon.

In 2011, VION's turnover was €9.5 billion. In early 2013, the firm employed over 21,000 staff.

It is not a listed company and has a single, agricultural shareholder, the Zuidelijke Land- en Tuinbouworganisatie (ZLTO), an agricultural and horticultural association with some 18,000 members.