Fazer Discusses Temporary Lay-off of Shop-in-shop Bakeries’ Employees

Fazer starts collaboration negotiations regarding its entire shop-in-shop bakery business, which will involve 597 employees in Finland. Fazer plans to temporarily lay off part of its shop-in-shop bakeries’ employees due to the situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic. 

During the pandemic, only pre-packed products are sold at Fazer’s shop-in-shop bakeries to ensure that consumers can feel safe when making purchases.  

“Consumers’ purchasing behavior has changed with the coronavirus epidemic. Packed bread sells well, but the sales of pick ‘n’ mix products and hand-baked, paper-bagged bread are decreasing in many stores. We believe the change in purchasing behavior is temporary and caused by these exceptional circumstances,” says managing director of Fazer Bakery Finland Markus Hellström.  

“The situation is severe for our business and may continue for several months. Thus, we are planning on adjusting our operations. To minimize the impact of the potential lay-offs on our employees, we are offering our staff the possibility to use their annual leaves and other paid leaves, and we are also trying to find them temporary work at Fazer’s other units. We will support every one of our employees in this exceptional situation and try to find the best possible solution,” continues Hellström.

At Fazer’s shop-in-shop bakeries, artisan bread is baked on-site, using local flour from Fazer’s mill, the company reminded. The shop-in-shop bakeries are identified by the name Fazer Leipurit, and they are located inside grocery stores as separate bakeries. Fazer currently has 92 shop-in-shop bakeries around Finland, employing approximately 600 people.