FORSSA SLAUGHTERHOUSE PROJECT PROGRESSES AS PLANNED
HK Ruokatalo Group Oyj RELEASE 23 August 2005, at 2:30pm
FORSSA SLAUGHTERHOUSE PROJECT PROGRESSES AS PLANNED The first phase of the extensive efficiency and modernisation project at HK Ruokatalos Forssa production plant is approaching the deployment stage. The new EUR 20 million pork slaughtering line, quick carcass refrigeration plant and other facilities will replace the old line dating from 1987. The project will safeguard the long-term slaughtering of pork. Cost-effectiveness is a key success factor in the slaughtering business. The investment will take Forssa to the cutting-edge of efficiency in Europe. The line features the latest state-of-the-art technology and a higher degree of automation, which in turn reduces laborious, repetitive work stages. Additionally, the investment will also lead to a fall in specific water and energy consumption. Greater efficiency means the new line will require fewer people than the old one to operate it. Whilst many employees will switch over to the new line either directly or after training, unfortunately some jobs will be lost in the process. To this end we will have to initiate employer-employee negotiations with workers and white-collar employees in the pork slaughterhouse divisions at Forssa. We expect around 68 jobs to be lost. The Forssa production plant has some 600 permanent employees, 140 of whom work in slaughtering. The Forssa production plant slaughters and cuts pork. HK Ruokatalo also has a pig slaughterhouse in Mellilä, a beef slaughterhouse in Outokumpu and poultry slaughterhouses in Eura and Säkylä. HK Ruokatalo is the largest processor of Finnish meat and processed 142 million kg in 2004. HK Ruokatalo Group Oyj Simo Palokangas CEO DISTRIBUTION: Helsinki Exchanges Internet: www.hk-ruokatalo.fi