Alerted by a supplier to the possible presence of salmonella, the giant Mondelez decided to close a production site.
It’s hard to imagine a supermarket shelf without Mikado, Pepito, Oreo, Granola and other Little Schoolchildren, to name but a few. Yet this could quickly become reality, if it is not already the case. Indeed, all these brands are manufactured by the giant Mondelez, which is encountering production difficulties. Its French site is currently completely shut down. The reason ? “A big cleaning“, after a supplier has “alerted to the possible presence of salmonella“Explains expert Olivier Dauvers, specialist in mass distribution, who was able to contact the company.
The supplier in question is the Swiss company Barry Callebaut, a cocoa specialist, which decided, after this discovery to immediately stop its production before relaunching 3 of its 24 production lines at the beginning of July. A drop in activity which has repercussions downstream and which forces Mondelez to run its other sites under-rev.
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No return to normal date is displayed. Enough to fear a major out of stock on many references in the coming months, while several stores are already affected. “It is obvious that there will be shortages or shortages at least until the end of the year», warns the distribution specialist. Because even in the event of an upcoming restart, there will be a delay before the products reach the consumer.
No health hazard
Officially, the marketed products do not present any danger and Mondelez does not plan a recall and has not communicated on any instructions or warnings. The big cleaning would be a precautionary measure for the group to avoid any contamination scandal like the one that hit Kinder de Ferrero.
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This suspicion of salmonella contamination at Mondelez is not the first. In recent months, several similar health scandals have erupted. A trend that does not surprise Olivier Dauvers: “The whole sector is so driven by a logic of cost reduction, the safety net becomes less secure“, he underlines. A fault shared by the entire sector, including the consumer, he points out, who often favors the most economical products.
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