Haribo withdraws from East Germany

The only Haribo plant in East Germany is finally on the brink of collapse. The company announced that no buyer had been found for the property in Wilkau-Haßlau near Zwickau. Therefore the sales negotiations were ended. Now the conversation should be sought with the city administration, "in order to develop the area otherwise," it said. "That is a slap in the face of the employees and very bitter for the region," said Thomas Lißner from the food-pleasure-restaurants union. It is only to be chalked to Haribo that there is no future for the confectionery location. Production in the plant has been suspended since the end of 2020. Haribo had justified the closure with immense investments that were necessary there. According to the information, several interested parties had knocked, but ultimately none had made an offer for the area. Most recently, talks with competitor Katjes had given employees hope for a future in confectionery production at the site - Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs, Martin Dulig, advocated this. The area should be used in the future "in the interests of the citizens", explained the managing partner of Haribo, Hans Guido Riegel. "Economic interests on our part are expressly not in the foreground." Riegel referred to the social plan for the 119 affected employees. Almost 80 have already found a new job or are retiring. Terminations have already been announced and will take effect for part of the workforce at the end of March, he said. In Wilkau-Haßlau gummy bears & Co were already being produced in GDR times, and Haribo took over the factory in 1990. When the gold bear producer made its closure plans public in November, a wave of protest followed: Several demonstrations, an online petition, and the Bundestag also dealt with the case. Haribo's works council chief Maik Pörschmann surprised with his decision. He said he hadn't heard anything about it. Trade unionist Lißner spoke of another "sad chapter in the East". Haribo had made profits from the plant for years, but failed to invest - now it will simply be closed, he criticized. "That makes you very angry."