Turners and Growers (T&G) Global will halt operations at its Fryatt St coolstore at the end of the month.
T&G Global head of post-harvest New Zealand Craig Kenny said the lease for the coolstore was due to expire at the end of the year and T&G had decided not to renew it as the facility was “no longer required for our operations”.
“We spoke with our team in August about this decision and are supporting them in the next steps of their careers,” Mr Kenny said.
“Everyone has been offered the opportunity to be redeployed within T&G and for those who want to stay in Dunedin and continue working, we’re actively supporting them in finding new employment.
“All team members will receive their full entitlements.”
The site’s final day of operation would be October 1.
T&G Global declined to answer questions from the Otago Daily Times, including how many staff were employed at the site, where they had been offered redeployment to and how long the site had been active.
It also declined to say what would happen to a training programme the site had operated in conjunction with Work and Income, how the site’s closure would affect its South Island operations and how it planned to continue its operations without the site.
The ODT understands the site opened in 1993 and employs three people at present, two of whom have accepted new positions at the company.
The site received apples from Central Otago which were then chilled to specification before being distributed.
