Griffins is reassuring customers that it will still make their iconic biscuits in New Zealand and has taken out a full page colour ad in today’s SST saying “contrary to some recent reports, we are not moving our manufacturing to China.”
Pacific Equity Partners, a private equity company, bought the iconic New Zealand Griffins company three years ago. On December 18 last year they closed down the Lower Hutt factory with the loss of 228 jobs. At the time Griffins said that it was committed to keeping the rest of its production in New Zealand
They moved production to its Papakura factory, but after encountering difficulties with the production the company sacked the managers in October and put forward a radical restructuring proposal under the name “Project Dragon”.
The company threatened to move off-shore if the unions wouldn’t agree to major cuts in terms and conditions and big lay-offs.
In a presentation to Grif?n’s workers, the new managers brought in from off-shore said: “We can even show you the site in China. The plant was purchased overseas and can be readily packed up and set up off shore.”
TVNZ highlighted the company’s threats last week and earlier, the Dominion Post had revealed that Cameo Cremes are now made in Fiji.
Anyway, I’m relieved Griffins is staying in NZ and so will the jobs in Papakura, where they are much needed.
I’m not a big biscuit eater, but I’m told that the Cameo Cremes are not the same.
Yay!!! Jobs for kiwis Woo hoo!!!! That must be a relief for their workers. I would never buy their biscuits if they were made in China !!!!!
Private Equity ?? Another Feltex in the making? That for those who have forgotten was a ‘pump and dump’. How many feltex plants are still running?
Fijian op-ed piece on Griffins:
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?ref=archive&id=134445
@Antipodean – thanks for that. No mention of what the workers are being paid of course. The per worker labour costs in China would have been $8 per day.