Food company's Vic factory closure to hit 100 workers

10/08/2012 - More than 100 jobs are to be lost as an international food company closes its Melbourne factory.

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Ireland-based Kerry Group is to close its factory at Altona in Melbourne's west in March 2013, with 105 production-line and office workers to be affected.

The food flavouring and ingredient company says the move is part of a consolidation of its manufacturing centres in the Asia-Pacific region.

A spokeswoman for Kerry Group said some of the affected employees could be offered jobs at the company's NSW and Queensland operations.

"Whilst manufacturing remains a very competitive environment in Australia and international markets, these decisions enable Kerry to provide sustainable business growth by leveraging the offering at our existing sites within the region," Kerry Ingredients and Flavours Asia-Pacific president Mark McCormack said in a statement.

"Whilst Kerry will continue to invest in and expand our presence in Australia, this is a consolidation of a number of acquisitions made over recent years."

National Union of Workers (NUW) spokeswoman Emma Kerin said the union was unsure how many Melbourne employees would be offered new roles.

"We're still trying to confirm where jobs are going but, no matter what, it's a bad result for the workers in Altona," Kerin said.

"We'll now be focusing on redundancies and making sure that happens promptly and it happens well, and we'll also be looking at reskilling and retraining the workers."

Source: AAP

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