Fruit-and-veg major Bonduelle plans to offload its packaged salads businesses in France and Germany.
Bonduelle said today (29 August) it has seen “a structural decline” in salad consumption in France and Germany, worsened by inflation and increased competition from private label in the last ten years.
As a result, the group will resize Bonduelle Frais France and plans to “streamline head office structures” and end operations at its site in Saint Mihiel site. Bonduelle said it would look for a buyer.
The company, meanwhile, is in “exclusive negotiations” with salad maker Les Crudettes, a subsidiary of French food-and-beverage company LSDH Group, for the acquisition of its packaged salad business in France.
Over the border in Germany, US-based salad producer Taylor Farms is in talks to take over Bonduelle’s salad operations in the country.
The company said: “These projects are necessary to preserve jobs within the Bonduelle Group’s sites in France and Europe. They will shift focus to Bonduelle’s other business operations to enable the group to continue accelerating its activities in the fresh delicatessen, canned and frozen food markets in these territories.”
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Bonduelle did not disclose how many jobs would be affected by the disposals.
It added its North American and Italian fresh businesses “are not impacted by these projects”. However, the group is also “currently reviewing the value of its salad business assets in North America”, according to the statement.
In the canned sweetcorn manufacturer’s full-year results to 30 June 2024, its fresh processed division saw revenues fall 3.3% on a like-for-like basis to €948.6m.
Discussing its European business, Bonduelle said: “In the fresh processed (bagged salads) and the fresh prepared segments, business activity suffered in quarter four and, particularly in June, from poor weather and an unfavourable base effect compared with the same period last year.
“The activity presented a stable turnover over the year, with salads in Italy and fresh prepared segments reporting growth.”
In January, Bonduelle was among 11 food companies being fined for working to hide the presence or absence of bisphenol A (BPA) in their packaging, according to France’s official competition watchdog.
Bonduelle was fined €2.9m ($3.2m) for organising a cartel with three French food canning associations.
