Coronavirus: Germans roast billionaire ‘sausage king’ as anger mounts over abattoir cluster

Clemens Toennies is facing a backlash for triggering a lockdown for 640,000 people after several workers tested positive at one of his meat plants

The outbreak has caused a political stir in a country lauded for its Covid-19 response

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German billionaire Clemens Toennies. Photo: DPA

Published: 7:03pm, 27 Jun 2020Updated: 7:05pm, 27 Jun 2020

Clemens Toennies, known to Germans as a brash billionaire, is turning into a public villain after one of his meat-processing plants triggered the country’s biggest single coronavirus outbreak.

Prosecutors and politicians are scrutinising his business model after more than 1,500 people – mainly poorly-paid contract workers from eastern Europe who live in cramped housing – tested positive, prompting authorities to close the plant.

It’s the latest challenge for Toennies, 64, who has previously weathered antitrust scrutiny and criticism for racist comments.

After failing for years to improve conditions for animals and workers, the man who also leads a German soccer club and has rubbed shoulders with Vladimir Putin is now facing a backlash for triggering a lockdown for 640,000 people, just as Europe’s biggest economy restarts. Even in a country that loves bratwurst and schnitzel, some say his comeuppance was bound to happen.

“There’s a lot of anger brewing,” said Sonja von Zons, a Green Party politician who’s running for mayor of Rheda-Wiedenbrueck, where the closed pork plant is based.

“Mr. Toennies for years rejected responsibility for what has been a destructive system for animals, workers and the environment. We’re fed up.”