Outgoing Bury St Edmunds MP David Ruffley has written to Kazuhide Nakano, Mizkan chairman and ceo protesting about the proposal.
“When your company acquired the Premier Foods site in my constituency of Bury St Edmunds we were given the impression that jobs at the site would be protected,” he wrote.
‘Extremely disappointing’
“I have now learned that your company has proposed to make up to 66 jobs redundant. This is extremely disappointing for the local community and those who are likely to lose their livelihood.”
He has asked Nakano to outline the reason for the job losses, the likely final number of redundancies and the practical steps Mizkan would be taking to find alternative employment for affected workers.
Premier announced the sale of the sweet pickles and table sauces business to global food group Mizkan for £92.5M in June 2012, as part of its bid to reduce debt levels.
‘Cost reductions’
Now Mizkan has released a statement, saying: “Mizkan Euro is currently undergoing a business restructure. Challenging environmental conditions within the UK food market have meant that a streamlining of processes, and implementing cost reductions, at Mizkan sites has become essential.
“Roles at the Middleton, Bury St Edmunds and Chiswick Park sites – a maximum of 87 staff in total – are affected by the restructure. Employees have been informed of the potential redundancies. A period of formal consultation will follow.”
The company claimed the restructure would not affect the organisation’s manufacture or distribution of any of its products. These included all products within the Branston, Sarson’s and Haywards ranges, which are all made at the Bury St Edmunds Middleton Road site.
Mizkan agreed to buy Unilever’s US pasta sauces business, including Ragu and Bertolli brands, in May.