Coffee factory to close down after six decades

Dutch coffee-making giants Jacob Douwe Egberts (JDE) has announced plans to close a factory that employs about 160 people.

The company said its plant in Banbury - which first opened as a General Foods (GF) factory in the 1960s - would shut next year.

The move was "not an easy decision to take", JDE said, but that a review found the costs involved in maintaining the decades-old infrastructure was "not financially viable".

Mick Pollek, Unite's regional officer, said there had been a "systematic management of decline in the infrastructure" at the plant.

"We have today announced a proposal to close our entire site in Banbury," JDE said in a statement earlier.

"This was not an easy decision to take, and our priority now is with our associates and supporting them throughout the consultation process."

It said that following a "comprehensive review into what it would take for Banbury to operate as a best-in-class packing facility", it found that "significantly more investment" was needed than "previously anticipated".

Coffee production at the plant ended in 2023, with hundreds losing their jobs and only the site's packing facilities left running.

"Our workers there have done a phenomenal job since the last bout of redundancies," Mr Pollek said.

"What we couldn't compete against is the fact that systematic owners have not put the money into the infrastructure that they should have."

"You cant blame JDE for that, that's just a house that they bought that has a leaky roof and has dodgy flooring," he added.

The then GF Factory opened in 1964, producing food and drink - including Bird's Custard.

Having been taken over by US food giant Kraft in the ensuing years, it was bought by JDE in 2015.

JDE faced widespread strike action in 2020 and 2021 at the plant when it put forward plans to fire and rehire much of the workforce on less favourable contract terms. Workers later agreed a deal to avoid the proposal.

"We are proud to have manufactured and packed coffee in Banbury for almost 60 years and would like to thank the local community for their valued support," JDE said.

"Most importantly, we want to acknowledge and thank everyone who has worked at the factory over the past six decades."

A consultation into the planned closure in 2026 would be launched soon, the company added.

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