Investors consider alternatives to Ardo plant closure

Several potential investors are considering ways to replace frozen vegetable production after Ardo’s plant in Groß-Enzersdorf is due to close in mid-2027, ORF reports. Lower Austria’s deputy governor Stephan Pernkopf said talks were under way, but time was running short.

Different options are being examined, Pernkopf said: existing companies could process more vegetables from the Marchfeld region, or new processing capacity could be built. He described a handful of serious investors or interested parties but declined to name them, citing confidentiality agreements. Officials plan to assess in the coming weeks which existing businesses could take on extra volumes and where new production lines would be needed.

Austrian Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig said he was confident a domestic solution could be found. “We will do everything to create an alternative,” he told ORF, adding that it would require experienced companies and investors willing to put money into Austria.

Totschnig and Pernkopf said support from retailers and consumers would be important. The article reported that retailers had pledged support for Austrian production and that an online petition to preserve Marchfeld frozen vegetables had attracted about 100,000 supporters. Austria’s overall vegetable self-sufficiency rate is 57 percent, the two politicians said.

A specific replacement plan has yet to be settled. Vegetable processor efko confirmed talks about possible solutions, while Spar agreed with Schneider’s Gemüseland in Groß-Enzersdorf to have more vegetables processed there. Agrana has proposed the site of a former sugar factory in Leopoldsdorf, in Gänserndorf district, as a possible location for new processing, but does not intend to operate a plant itself.

Replacing production of leafy vegetables, particularly spinach, may be especially difficult because it requires specialised processing lines. Pernkopf said the situation could become critical from mid-2027. Existing stocks of Austrian frozen leafy vegetables are expected to last no later than October 2027, he said, meaning a lasting solution would need to be financed and put in place relatively quickly.

Belgian group Ardo announced in late September that it would close its production and packaging plant in Groß-Enzersdorf, citing the investment required and the site’s cost position. The company has maintained its decision despite interest from private investors and an offer of support from federal and state authorities. Pernkopf said Ardo had also rejected a request to keep production running temporarily and that the equipment would not remain at the plant.