Anfaco Defends Cuca’s Move To O Groveff

Anfaco, the Spanish National Association of Manufacturers of Canned Fish and Seafood that represents Spanish canners, is defending Conservas Garavilla’s plans to move the Cuca canning production to O Grove.


Juan  Manuel Vieites Baptista de Sousa, Anfaco Secretay General

Anfaco’s Secretary General, Juan Vieites, yesterday came out in defense of the move. He said that concentrating production at the O Grove plant “specifically meets the final objectives of the strategic plan for the Galician canning sector” which highlighted that the main weakness of the sector was the small size of companies.

For Anfaco, moving Cuca represents the consolidation of a group capable of producing efficiently and competitively. There are currently more than 7,000 people are affected by layoffs in the province, Vieites added.

Garavilla is guaranteeing a 100% job security. According to Anfaco, the reasons for the move are “'unquestionable to any objective observer” and aims to achieve greater efficiency.

Vieites says “no one can seriously believe that a century-old company, such as Conservas Garavilla, active in Galicia for more than forty years –region where it generates two-thirds of its business- and has just recently made a major investment effort in Cuca, may be considering a relocation operation when all its actions indicate otherwise.”

Garavilla, producer of the brand Isabel, “is doing what it needs to do for the good of their products”, Vieites says. The transfer is exclusively a relocation of production within Spain, to maintain its markets and ensure the jobs.

However, says Vieites, there are “interest groups” that are causing uncertainty among the employees at the Cuca Vilaxoán plant, “forcing the staff to organize massive protests” and at the same time “preventing the employees to develop a direct relationship with the company.”

Anfaco is transmitting the following  recommendation to plant workers in Vilaxoán Cuca :  “stay calm and have trust in your company, as this brand change will mark a firm step toward the consolidation, as well as the security of the jobs and the production in the region of O Salnés.”