Social media lit up with hypothesis that a handful of staff dissatisfied with the 7% annual pay enhance that was accepted by nearly all of their Denny Mushrooms colleagues determined to vent their frustration by burning down the Shongweni plant in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday final week (9 September).
It was reportedly the second hearth on the plant in little over every week.
The first one, in late August, was extinguished by hearth fighters earlier than it was in a position to trigger a lot harm, in keeping with The Mercury.
Denny is SA’s largest producer of recent mushrooms and operates from three crops in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The extent of the harm and the price of returning the plant to full manufacturing usually are not recognized.
The firm is owned by JSE-listed Libstar, proprietor of different well-known meals manufacturers equivalent to Cook ‘n Bake, Goldcrest and Cartwrights. It additionally the SA consultant for worldwide manufacturers equivalent to Tabasco, Kiri and Robertsons.
The firm issued an announcement to Moneyweb on Monday confirming the hearth on Friday 9 September at Denny Mushrooms’ Shongweni farm, believed to have began at 16h45.
Read: Libstar share worth jumps on information of Cape Foods acquisition
“We are currently working with the authorities to investigate the cause of the fire as well as assess the damage. We are unable to comment further at this stage as to the cause, extent or estimated cost of the damage. The safety of our people remains a key priority and we are thankful that none of our 319 employees were injured. We remain focused on servicing the needs of our customers from our plants in Gauteng and the Western Cape,” says the assertion.
The firm didn’t elaborate on whether or not it believes disgruntled staff had been behind the hearth.
A case of malicious harm to property has been opened on the close by Mariannhill Police Station after workplaces and a big a part of the Denny warehouse had been destroyed, earlier than the hearth was extinguished by native hearth fighters from close by stations.
Denny Mushrooms plant in Shongweni KZN gutted by a fireplace. Reports say some disgruntled workers began the blaze over a wage dispute. pic.twitter.com/Z4kgnZ5Q0y
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) September 11, 2022
The response on Twitter was livid: “So they went from disgruntled (workers) to fully unemployed and made many other unemployed,” mentioned one. “Cool. What will be their wages now,” mentioned one other. “I won’t rebuild, not in this country…finish n klaar,” mentioned one other.
“Only five people did not agree to the wage increase. They did the damage. Does that make sense? Now all are without work. Very clever move.”
Denny Mushrooms has had a run of unhealthy luck, going again to the riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July 2021, ensuing in manufacturing stoppages on the Shongweni plant for one week and the Deodar plant in Gauteng for 3 days.
The firm’s newest annual report for the yr to March 2022 particulars the way it has been impacted by decrease price recoveries and the closure of buyer shops attributable to Covid. The Shongweni plant was most severely affected, however managed to claw its means again to historic manufacturing ranges by September 2021.
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Denny is a part of a vegan meat substitute technique being rolled out in collaboration with one other Libstar model, Ambassador Foods.
The impression of the decrease mushroom gross sales volumes on the excessive fixed-cost nature of Denny Mushrooms’ farming operations had a detrimental impression on its profitability in the most recent monetary yr.
“Corrective actions taken by the group have included increased mushroom price realisation, the containment of costs and the significant recovery of its retail channel market share from previous lows. Despite these efforts, the prevailing competitive market conditions, high operating cost structure and declining sale volumes have interrupted Denny Mushrooms’ recovery. Considering these factors, the Group has applied a conservative downward revision of Denny Mushrooms’ five-year growth forecasts.”
An impairment lack of R198 million was recognised in the prior yr in relation to goodwill attributable to Libstar’s funding in Denny Mushrooms.
It stays to be seen whether or not an extra impairment could be anticipated in the six months to September monetary statements.
“I sincerely hope that the responsible people are found and brought to justice swiftly. This kind of behaviour is going to trash this country,” writes one commentator on Twitter.
It’s a sentiment echoed by a whole bunch of others, simply as KwaZulu-Natal gave the impression to be clawing its means again from the horrors and job losses of final yr’s riots.
