Angas Park, a 101-year-old Barossa icon, will be closing its doors between April and September next year.
Owner, Manassen Foods, announced the closure of the Angaston processing facility to the 130 staff at a meeting on Thursday, October 19.
Between 50-60 permanent staff will be made redundant and an unknown number of casual staff will also be left without a job.
The company announced the closure of its Angaston production facilities as part of a broader realignment of its operations with the major processing to be done at Mildura in Victoria where they have upgraded facilities.
The processing facilities’ closure will result in some job losses, while the company will retain a small presence in the area, believed to be through the retaining of the Angas Park shop.
Staff at Angas Park said they were unable to comment and referred any questions to Fowlstone Communications.
Processing of Angas Park products will be carried out from the company’s facility in Victoria. They also have a retail shop at Irymple near Mildura in the north-west Sunraysia district.
Geoff Erby, chief executive of Manassen, said: “This has been an extremely difficult decision for Manassen Foods and one which has not been taken lightly.
“The Australian dried fruits industry as a whole is suffering as the market continues to choose lower-cost imports ahead of our own locally grown and processed product.
“We have multiple underutilised processing facilities with Angaston operating well below capacity.”
Mr Erby cited Angas Park’s location in Angaston as a major reason for the company’s decision to switch all processing to Victoria.
“For historic reasons their diverse locations also result in major logistical inefficiencies.
“We remain firmly committed to the Angas Park brand and these actions will allow us to be competitive over the longer-term,” he said.
Martin McCarthy, chief executive officer of the Barossa Council said council was aware of Angas Park’s pending closure and they certainly did not want businesses to close down.
“We are talking to Regional Development Australia about the details to determine how it will impact the community,” Mr McCarthy said.
Regional Development Australia were in meetings on Friday afternoon looking at the statistics and impacts of the closure of the Angaston plant.
Ivan Venning, member for Schubert has spoken to the company and will make a comment on Monday.
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