Goodman Fielder to close facilities, cut jobs and reduce product range

As part of its plans to improve manufacturing efficiency, Goodman Fielder will close three of its bakery facilities, cut 115 jobs and reduce its product range.

The company plans to upgrade its Townsville facility to become a hub for the North Queensland region, but will close its Rockhampton and Cairns facilities as a result. The Rockhampton facility will close on 20 July, while the Cairns facility is expected to remain open until Q3 2013.

The Whiteside bakery facility in Melbourne will also close in 2013. These changes will bring the company’s total job cuts to 541 this financial year.

“This is a difficult but necessary decision to ensure we can create a more efficient manufacturing footprint in our bakery business,” said Pankaj Talwar, Managing Director of the company’s Bakery Category.

“We understand the impact these decisions can have on our people and our immediate priority is to ensure that our employees are supported through this process.”

The company says all employees from these facilities will be offered redeployment to other Goodman Fielder sites. Those who cannot be deployed will receive full redundancies and help in the form of an employee assistance program, outplacement program and careers workshop.

The company will also reduce its current range from 450 to 350 in order to improve efficiency, improve on-shelf availability and increase customer satisfaction. Plans are in place to reduce the range by a further 50 products, which will result in an overall 33% reduction by the conclusion of the project.