Dick Smith Food’s “Magnificent Sliced Beetroot’s” label may be grounds for legal action, pointing out the “loss of hundreds of Australian Zealand jobs” on the product’s packaging. The job losses refer to Heinz’s decision to move its beetroot processing facility to New Zealand in mid 2011.
Speaking to a New Zealand radio station recently, Smith said that he was likely to be defeated if he was taken to court by Heinz, but stood by his message.
“I presume it’s the different soil or different style of beetroot you have there, but it’s nothing like our beautiful sweet Gold Circle beetroot of old,” Smith told the New Zealand radio station.
A letter made public from Heinz to Dick Smith Foods justified the relocation of the processing facility, in a statement that said job losses were “minimal.” However, previous announcements from Heinz said that around 340 jobs were expected to be lost during relocation from Australia to New Zealand.
Heinz now processes its beetroot and some sauces at plants in Hastings and Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. In November last year, Heinz reported a five per cent profit drop which it attributed to “significant costs” associated with the relocation of the plant.
Earlier this year, Dick Smith Foods had been making headlines for its controversial Australia Day advertisement which was banned from Australian television.
