Declining numbers of slaughtered animals and decreasing consumption of pork in Germany are reasons Danish Crown says it’s adjusting its approach to the German market with the clear aim of improving earnings. A deboning facility located in Boizenburg, east of Hamburg, is scheduled for closure so all slaughtering and deboning are joined at the group’s German abattoir, the company said in a release.
After African swine fever struck Germany in early autumn of 2020, the country’s production of pigs has dropped. Once a leading exporter of pork in Europe, Germany must now focus on the domestic market.
“We simply have to make more money in Germany. Therefore, we believe it is time to shift the focus from pure large-scale production to a more agile setup. The abattoir in Essen has an important task in supplying our own processing facilities with raw materials, and at the same time production will be adapted so that we can produce exactly the goods that our customers in both Germany and the rest of Europe demand from week to week,” Jais Valeur, Group CEO of Danish Crown, said in a release.
Danish Crown’s facility in Boizenburg, east of Hamburg, is set for closure. This facility in Boizenburg has been operating for almost 20 years, but within the next six months will transfer a large part of the activities to Danish Crown’s abattoir in Essen, southwest of Bremen.
“The more than 200 employees at the facility have been informed today. As far as possible, they will be offered work at other facilities in the Danish Crown group,” the company wrote in a release.
The management in Boizenburg is negotiating with the facility’s work committee about the conditions for transferring employees to other facilities, as well as what can be done for the employees who may not want to accept the offer of another job in the group. Once negotiations are complete, the company will draw up a plan for the winding down of production in Boizenburg, it noted in a release. This will be followed by the sale of the buildings.
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