Striking French workers block world’s biggest Nutella factory

A factory in northern France that makes a quarter of the world’s Nutella has been blockaded for a week by workers striking for more pay, unions said on Monday, in troubling news for lovers of the cocoa and hazelnut spread.

The stoppage has hit the Villers-Ecalles factory of privately-owned Italian confectionery giant Ferrero, which normally churns out 600,000 jars per day, making it the biggest Nutella producer in the world.

Some 160 employees have been on strike since Monday last week, said Fabrice Canchel of the Force Ouvriere (FO) union.

“No lorry has gone in or out of the site since then,” he said.

Kinder Bueno production had also ceased for almost a week, Canchel said, while of the four Nutella production lines, just one was working and that only at 20 per cent capacity. “The raw materials are starting to run short,” he said.

Workers want a 4.5 per cent pay rise as well as a 900 euro (US$1,000) bonus. Management has offered only a 0.4 per cent rise.