Ardo withholds details after talks on plant’s future

Ardo has disclosed no details about talks on the future of its plant in Groß-Enzersdorf, where the frozen-food company plans to end operations by the end of the year, ORF reported Wednesday.

Representatives of the company met Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig, Lower Austria deputy governor Stephan Pernkopf and Lorenz Mayr, vice-president of the Chamber of Agriculture, at the Agriculture Ministry. The federal and state governments offered support for keeping the plant open, the ministry said in a statement. It described the rest of the talks as confidential and did not say whether further meetings would take place.

An Ardo Austria Frost spokesperson said the participants had exchanged their positions on the planned closure and agreed to keep the meeting’s content confidential. The company said its information and consultation process with employee representatives would continue, and that it intended to support affected workers with an appropriate social plan.

Ardo says the plant would require €100 million in investment, which it considers uneconomic given the small Austrian market. The planned closure puts 240 jobs at risk and would also affect numerous vegetable farmers. Ardo is Austria’s only large frozen-food plant.