Latest / Best of Business / Alan McDonald: EMA Head of Advocacy on Heinz Wattie's shutting down at least three manufacturing facilities

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Alan McDonald: EMA Head of Advocacy on Heinz Wattie's shutting down at least three manufacturing facilities · Best of Business

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• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Heather do for see out so.
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  Speaker 2: Big news from Heinz What He's Today. The companies announced
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  Speaker 2: it will stop selling frozen vegetables, Gregg's Coffee and a
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  Speaker 2: range of brand dip brands in New Zealand. They will
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  Speaker 2: shut three manufacturing facilities that are in Auckland christ such
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  Speaker 2: in Dunedin and the packing plant and Hastings is also
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  Speaker 2: on the chopping block now. Alan McDonald is the head
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  Speaker 2: of Advocacy and Strategy for the Employers and Manufacturers Association
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  Speaker 2: and with us Hi Allen, Hey, hell, why have they
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  Speaker 2: made this call?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I've only seen the press release like you, and
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  Speaker 3: they cite inputs as one of the big causes of
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  Speaker 3: them making this very tough decision, which is very hard
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  Speaker 3: for those one hundred and fifty odd people festival. And
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  Speaker 3: you know those inputs in that in that manufacturing that
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  Speaker 3: will be getting their raw materials, that will be paying
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  Speaker 3: for their energy and frozen foods. You need a lot
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  Speaker 3: of electricity and energy to chill them and install them,
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  Speaker 3: and there'll be stuff like plant and machinery and waste
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  Speaker 3: cost all that the average ways cost them. The last
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  Speaker 3: year's been down about the two point one two point
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  Speaker 3: two percent, So it'll be some combination of maybe all
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  Speaker 3: of those or all some of those that's led to
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  Speaker 3: them making this very tough decision.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I'm taking from the fact that you've only
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  Speaker 2: read the press release. No one talked to you. You
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  Speaker 2: didn't see this coming. This wasn't widely known.
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  Speaker 3: No haadly known. Yeah, so that's it is a bit
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  Speaker 3: of a surprise. But I don't think it'll be the
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  Speaker 3: last of these sorts of things we're going to see
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  Speaker 3: this year.
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  Speaker 2: This year you think, yeah, I think there'd be more.
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  Speaker 3: Some of them won't be as high profile, obviously, as
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  Speaker 3: as heinz Waddy, which is a brand that's been in
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  Speaker 3: New Zealand for a very long time. We keep hearing
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  Speaker 3: rumblings of others getting ready to exit, significant size manufacturers
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  Speaker 3: as well as smaller ones. So you know, the industrialization
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  Speaker 3: has been happening raw two prompted by some very high
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  Speaker 3: electroity triphy prices are slighted being prompted by those prices,
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  Speaker 3: so you know it won't be a supposed to see more. Unfortunately, Allen.
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  Speaker 2: The thing is, though I thought, I mean, sure we've
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  Speaker 2: had we've had problems with the electricity prices. We absolutely have.
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  Speaker 2: But I thought for the for the most part, we
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  Speaker 2: had got through that that was a last year story.
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  Speaker 1: Am I wrong?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, they're still going up, you know. So the lines companies,
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  Speaker 3: for example, they are on a cycle when they can
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  Speaker 3: increase their prices and that's just started for now. The
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  Speaker 3: dams are full, and that's good, so that might keep
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  Speaker 3: a stable level, but they're not dropping back. And you know,
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  Speaker 3: they forecast to go up even even when we get
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  Speaker 3: the new LNG plant, if we get it and if
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  Speaker 3: we use it, they're still going up.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Ellen, thank you very much. I do appreciate
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  Speaker 2: your time. That's Ellen McDonald, Employers and Manufacturers Association, Head
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  Speaker 2: of Thattpicacy and Strategy.
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