Nestlé NESN.S announced on Monday that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Italpizza to sell its factory in Caudry (North), where Buitoni brand products implicated in a health scandal are manufactured.
The Swiss agri-food giant announced in March the search for a buyer for this site, and its possible closure, after the food poisoning of several children, two of whom died, by the E.coli bacteria after consuming frozen Buitoni pizzas.
The takeover of the site by Italpizza, an Italian company, could make it possible to “relaunch production activity through a solid and long-lasting project with employment and investment prospects in the region”, says Nestlé in a press release, in specifying that the project could be finalized by early 2024.
(Report by Sybille de la Hamaide, written by Bertrand Boucey)