Fazer: closes Hyvinkää and Ulvila bakeries

Helsinki / FI. (fg) Fazer Bakery´s collaboration negotiations regarding the bakeries in Hyvinkää and Ulvila in Finland are over. Production in the Hyvinkää and Ulvila bakeries will be terminated and the bakeries will be closed in autumn 2015. Fazer has considered different options to improve the efficiency of its bakery network, and has decided to centralise the production of bakery products. As a result the production in Hyvinkää and Ulvila bakeries will be terminated and the bakeries will be closed. This will happen at the earliest in September 2015. The collaboration negotiations in Hyvinkää and Ulvila bakeries affected the entire personnel, 146 employees in total, of which 73 in Hyvinkää and 73 in Ulvila. «We want to further the employees´ possibilities of re-employment, either within or outside the group. We will liaise with the local employment administrations», says Markus Hellström, Managing Director, Fazer Bakery Finland. The need for the negotiations was a result of the challenging market situation. Bread consumption is declining in Finland and consumer behaviour has changed in a significant way. The share of bread baked in stores is growing and that of pre-packed bread is falling. Increasing the efficiency of operations must be continued to secure future competitiveness. Salary and energy costs have continued to rise as well and it is not possible to fully transfer the cost effects into prices. Fazer´s other bakeries are located in Vantaa, Lahti, Lappeenranta and Oulu. In addition, Fazer Finland has 47 in-store bakeries where bakers bake bread every day. The degree of domestic origin in Fazer´s bakery products is over 95 percent.