Danish Crown’s chief executive has admitted the company is in the midst of a ‘crisis’, as it announced plans to cut 500 jobs to restore the financial health of the company.
Fewer slaughter pigs and excessive costs are pressuring the competitiveness of Denmark’s largest meat company, which has suffered financially as a result.
The leading global pork producer said cutting 500 salaried positions across the company, along with other cost-saving measures, will save DKK 500 million (about £56m). Moving forward, it intends to prioritise its ‘most critical core tasks’ more stringently to return to financial healthy.
Group CEO Niels Duedahl, who was appointed to the role on September 1, said that in order to move forward, the company needed to impose this organisational adjustment.
He said: “Danish crown is in the midst of a crisis, and we are facing sweeping changes. Our costs are simply far too high in relation to our earnings.
“It goes without saying that we are obliged to act on this, and we are now adjusting our organisation and focusing one hundred per cent on the core business to ensure better settlements for the farmers who own Danish Crown.
“It affects me deeply, but the planned redundancies are unfortunately necessary if we are to become a financially healthy company again.
“The good news – although difficult to talk about on a day like today – is that Danish Crown are in control of the situation and can resolve this crisis internally.”
Since taking over, Mr Duedahl has integrated all the company’s group functions into the same organisational unit, with a ‘clear goal of streamlining and enhancing Danish Crown’. He signalled that there will be more initiatives in the near future to ‘strengthen the company’s focus’.
“Danish Crown has a long, proud history, and although we are writing a difficult chapter today, we are doing it to be able to write many more positive ones in the future. Behind our problems lies a great untapped potential, which I know a focused organisation can unlock when we make the tough but right decisions,” he added.
The process of legal negotiations between Danish Crown and employee representatives is underway.
