Apetito in talks over closing Dudley pies plant

More than 70 staff at Apetito’s pies and pastries factory in Dudley face an uncertain future after company bosses said mounting losses could force them to close the site.

While Apetito’s overall business, which supplies frozen food to the foodservice sector, remained in growth the Dudley site had “continued to make significant losses”, admitted chief executive Paul Freeston. This was “despite heavy investment and effort to protect the viability of the business”

Closure would only be considered when all other options had been exhausted, added Freestone. “We have sought to develop the Dudley factory via the launch of new products into the end user pub market. However, the rate of decline of the core general wholesale market has resulted in manufacturers fighting harder for business in a decreasing market, which has impacted particularly hard on this element of production.”

Several options are being explored, including the closure of the site, said the firm, which has entered into a statutory 30-day period of consultation with the local Works Council and on-site staff. “We are consulting on matters including whether there is any way of avoiding redundancies, reducing the number of redundancies or lessening the impact of redundancies.”