Müller Milk & Ingredients (MMI) is reviewing the production operations at its Severnside dairy as part of its £100 million Project Darwin cost and margin improvement programme.
According to MMI, the Gloucester site – which produces bulk butter, potted cream, Frijj, private label flavoured milk, bulk cream, fresh milk and powder – compares unfavourably in terms of cost, complexity and utilisation with other dairies in MMI’s network.
On February 17, a 45-day consultation will be launched, which will review whether to continue the production of butter, potted cream and Frijj at the site, and examine other ways to simplify and restructure operations at the facility to ensure it meets current and future customer requirements.
Other products produced at the site will not be affected by the review.
The company says that it is too early to assess the impact on jobs, but in the event that a decision is made to halt the production of these products at the site, affected employees will be offered opportunities to relocate, or will be supported should this not be possible.
MMI launched the Project Darwin programme in February 2019. The programme aimed to carry out a comprehensive review of every aspect of MMI’s operations in order to simplify the business, reduce costs and improve customer focus.
Rob Hutchison, operations director at MMI, said: “Whilst MMI has made significant progress in the past year, our business is still loss-making. We must maintain our momentum if we are to achieve sustainable profitability.
“Cost of production at Severnside is higher than any of our other sites and this review will look at how we can best meet the needs of our customers, in a manner that is much more simple and cost-effective.
“We are taking action to ensure we can achieve cost leadership in everything that we do, while meeting the requirements of our customers both now and in the future. We understand that this is an unsettling time for our employees and will work hard with them and their representatives during this period to find the right solutions.”
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