Avara Foods has announcing it is planning to shut its Abergavenny factory in autumn 2023, which would result in the loss of all jobs at the site.
The Abergavenny facility was part of the acquisition of turkey processor Cranberry Foods by Faccenda, in 2012. It is a ‘cut and pack’ operation, predominantly preparing a range of fresh turkey products, alongside some chicken lines, for retail customers, and is staffed by around 400 employees.
The company said Avara faced significant inflationary pressure in fuel, commodities and labour, which has driven up pricing and significantly reduced demand for UK-produced turkey in the retail market. To maintain a competitive customer offer, Avara has started to restructure its turkey business to operate “a more efficient operational footprint focused on fewer, better invested facilities,” it said.
Over the past six months the company has looked in depth at a range of options to enable its wider business to compete effectively in the market in the future.
!Regretfully, this process identified that volumes could be processed more efficiently in other operations and with lower capital investment,” said a spokesman. “This has resulted in the proposal to close the Abergavenny site. This difficult decision has not been taken lightly and in no way reflects on the hard-working colleagues.”
In the coming days Avara will begin a collective consultation process with the people affected by this proposal. “The nature of this consultation means that no final decisions have been made and there will be no speculation as to how the process will conclude,” the spokesman said.