Ardo closure prompts solidarity appeal and halts spinach planting

Workers at frozen vegetable producer Ardo are seeking public support after the company announced plans to close its plant in Groß-Enzersdorf, while farmers in the Marchfeld farming region have already missed the autumn sowing of spinach. ORF reported the developments on Tuesday.

Ardo works council member Dietmar Breiner urged consumers to post pictures on social media holding signs such as “Regional instead of international”. He said the campaign was intended to put pressure on Ardo and preserve a chance of keeping the plant open.

Breiner also warned of a possible shortage of Austrian frozen vegetables, saying Ardo was currently the only supplier to all significant retail chains in Austria. He called for a joint effort to protect the security of supply.

The planned closure has also affected spinach production in the Marchfeld. Farmers did not sow spinach for freezing this autumn, after the closure announcement came before the sowing window about two weeks ago. The seed had already been ordered and is now held by farmers or the Tiefkühlgemüse producers’ organisation, known as ETG.

Karl Auer, head of the Lower Austrian Vegetable Growers’ Association, said the crop would have been harvested in March or April next year and that the planned fields would now not be planted. Spring yields would therefore be missing, he said. Farmers were paid after delivering their produce.

Ardo, based in Groß-Enzersdorf in the Gänserndorf district, has rejected a support and subsidy package from the federal and state governments. The company said last week it would focus on drawing up a social plan. Lower Austrian Chamber of Labour president Markus Wieser told ORF that a concrete offer had been rejected on the grounds that “the figures do not add up”. He said the plan should cushion all the effects on workers.

The plant, which produces frozen vegetables for Iglo and the own-label frozen ranges of Billa, Hofer and Spar, is scheduled to close at the end of August 2027. The closure would affect 190 employees and 50 agency workers. Ardo said it processed produce from about 270 farmers in Lower Austria in 2025. ETG, which produces for Ardo, has 500 member farms.