Swiss food group Orior to cut 90 jobs

Faced with high debt, Orior cuts its losses Keystone-SDA

Faced with declining half-year results and a high level of debt, the Orior food group is cutting 90 jobs to turn its business around.

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The Zurich-based group now wants to focus on the Swiss market and a selection of international activities. Management is considering “all strategic options” for its Belgian subsidiary Culinor Food Group, including a sale.

The management hopes to find a buyer by the first quarter of 2026, CEO Monika Friedli-Walser said on Thursday.

If no buyer is found, Culinor’s activities will be integrated more closely into the parent company. Chief Financial Officer Sacha Gerber would not give a price, but according to experts at Zurich Cantonal Bank, it could be between CHF50 million and CHF100 million.

Culinor was acquired in 2016 and produces ready meals for the retail and catering sectors in several European countries, but not for Switzerland. Orior does not give details of Culinor’s sales, but its international business fell by 4% to CHF94.5 million in the first half of the year. According to Orior, the synergies targeted since the takeover of Culinor “have not been achieved”.

Instead, the German company Gesa, a subsidiary of fruit juice manufacturer Biotta, needs to be strengthened. The catering business in European airports is also to be expanded, and the stake in Italian pasta manufacturer Gaetarelli consolidated.

Switzerland has not been spared the restructuring measures. Albert Spiess, a charcuterie brand based in Graubünden, is to be merged with its Ticino counterpart Rapelli, as it has been deemed “insufficiently profitable for some time” and is suffering from rising meat prices.

Production at Schiers, in the canton of Graubünden, is to be scaled back and the Landquart shop closed. This restructuring could result in the loss of 90 of the 130 jobs at Schiers, warned Orior’s boss.

Coupled with property sales, the group intends to reduce its debt by a double-digit million figure over 18 months, without giving any further details. At present, the company’s debt stands at CHF173.3 million, a level the company considers “unsatisfactory”. Results must be improved and the company’s structure slimmed down.

Adjusted outlook

Net sales for the Zurich-based company fell by 2.9% year-on-year to CHF304.9 million in the first half of the year, while gross operating profit (Ebitda) fell by 28.7% to CHF16.3 million. The associated margin contracted by 1.9 percentage points to 5.4%.

Net profit came to CHF1.3 million, a plunge of 78.9% compared with the first half of 2024, Orior also reported.

While sales and net profit exceeded the expectations of analysts polled by AWP, Ebitda was below the CHF17.1 million anticipated by the market.

Management has clarified its financial outlook for the year as a whole, now expecting organic sales to fall by between -2% and -4%, compared with the -4% to -6% previously expected. The Ebitda margin should be between 5.9% and 6.3% (previously 6% to 6.4%).

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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