Rescue of the Ardo factory failed: Belgians close it for good

“Possible support measures for the site were also carefully examined and discussed. However, subsidies or any other form of direct or indirect support would not address the plant’s structural economic challenges and expose the company to potential legal and financial risks,” Ardo said in a statement. “Ardo does not believe that maintaining a structurally unviable operation using public subsidies would be a sustainable long-term solution.” The Belgians will therefore not pursue this option and will continue to focus their efforts on “achieving a balanced social plan for the employees affected by the intended closure”.

“This is a declaration of war”

“This is a declaration of war. We are astonished by the approach, because the statements made by Ardo correspond neither to the concrete content of the conversation nor to the facts. Because the Ardo management did not respond to any offers of help and did not even say what specific support would be necessary to secure the location or to temporarily continue operations,” counters Deputy State Governor Stephan Pernkopf in an interview with the KURIER. “The intention is clear: they want a profitable one Closing the location, so Austria out, Belgian vegetables in. These closure plans are unacceptable for us because we want to secure the supply of domestic frozen vegetables. We requested further discussions at the owner level and the management promised to pass this request on to the owners immediately.

Ardo refuses to sell the work

The Belgians have also ruled out selling the plant and its machinery to two Austrian investors. When asked by KURIER, they only confirm that they have been contacted by potential investors.

“The possibility of selling the work was of course thoroughly examined by Ardo,” said an Ardo spokesman. “The site faces structural business challenges, including a cost position that is significantly less competitive than comparable production sites in Central and Eastern Europe. Any potential new owner would face the same fundamental challenges, including the need to modernize the site at significant cost.” Addendum: “We do not believe that a new owner could realistically bring the plant back to profitability given these challenges.” Ardo will therefore not pursue this further.”

But that’s only half the truth: Ardo wants to “gut” the factory in Groß-Enzersdorf and relocate the machines to the group’s other production sites, apparently in Western Europe.

New producer

After the announced closure of the Ardo factory in August 2027, the Austrian trading group Spar has found a solution: The family company Schneider’s vegetable land from Groß-Enzersdorf, which is run by the three siblings Barbara Kargl, Josef Schneider and Thomas Schneider, will take over a further portion of the Marchfeld frozen vegetable products previously produced at Ardo from summer 2027. The company has been a partner of Spar for ten years and currently produces the majority of Spar’s frozen vegetables from Marchfeld. There are 20 products in total.

“Collaboration with regional companies is not a trend for us, but has been a central part of our product range strategy for decades,” said Spar board member Markus Kaser. “Therefore, the news of the closure of the Ardo plant was immediately an order for us to find another local company to process Marchfeld vegetables. Where there is a will, there is a way.”