Stollwerck, the German chocolate manufacturer owned by Switzerland's Barry Callebaut, is to close two production facilities in the Black Forest and transfer production of its Gubor line to another site.
Stollwerck said it was currently in discussions with the German Works Council regarding the planned closure of the Muenstertal and Muellheim sites on 30 September.
Stollwerck said it was discussing redundancy terms for the 270 employees who will be affected by the site closures. Just 35 employees working in marketing, internal sales support, IT and finance/administration will remain at Muellheim once production has ceased there.
The Gubor brand will not be adversely impacted by the closures, Stollwerck said, stressing instead that the brand would in fact increase its market presence as a core Stollwerck brand.
Production of Gubor products is now likely to take place at another Barry Callebaut subsidiary company, Van Houten, based in Norderstedt, near Hamburg.
"The decision to close these production sites was taken in connection with a detailed site and profitability analysis, the necessary concentration of production capacity and the significant investment requirements at both plants, which were built in the 1950s (Muenstertal) and 1970s (Muellheim)," said Barry Callebaut in a statement.
"Such investment cannot be justified, however, in view of Gubor's low production volumes and the fact that modern production capacities are available elsewhere within the Stollwerck group."