Nestle takeover by US company

By Melissa Meehan
AS ONE door closes, another opens.
Pakenham institution Nestle will be no longer as of November when American company Simplot takes over.
The takeover was announced last week and the Pakenham site will now trade under the name of Gippsland Food Company.
Factory manager Andrew Nooy, who has worked at Nestle for more than 25 years, said it was both a sombre and exciting time for all workers.
“Many like me, who have been here for a while have said that while they are excited about the future of the Gippsland Food Company they have a bit of a connection with Nestle,” he said.
“It’s hard to put into words.”
The new name, which Mr Nooy says conveys a local identity, will come into place over the next month with Gippsland Food Company signage replacing the familiar Nestle ones.
“By using the word Gippsland we can identify with other local producers in the area and hopefully attract a lot of business over the big multinationals,” he said.
“This will coincide with growing our business – something we hope to do over the next five years.”
Growth over the next few years will bring many new jobs for the town, says Mr Nooy. “To be able to keep the factory going is great for the town.
“For every one person employed at the factory we keep another trade in a job too – from plumbers to carpenters.
“And by increasing our workforce over the next five years, the future is looking really bright.”
Mr Nooy said all staff would be offered employment with Simplot and no redundancies would be offered.
“People are really excited and with talk of new products the place is abuzz,” he said.
“We are really hoping for a smooth transition.”
He said Pakenham’s affiliation with Nestle dated back to the 1960s and that many workers were pleased there would be no changes in management or production.
“The takeover really adds to the security of the place,” he said.
“But its ‘business as usual’ for us here, we’ll have a different name but the same great products plus a couple of extras.”
Over the next twelve months, Mr Nooy said Gippsland Gourmet Foods would develop an identity in the area and go from strength to strength.