These are dark days for Nutella lovers, it looks as if we may have to prepare for a hazelnut spread drought. The largest Nutella factory in the world has halted production for a near week after almost half its workers went on strike.
Employees and activists are protesting against the Nutella factory in France over salary negotiations and working conditions. Employees are seeking a 4.5 per cent rise in wages.
The dispute kicked off on May 27th, when 160 employees walked off the job at the plant in Normandy. The work stoppage has put a halt to all but one of the production lines. Union activists have reportedly been blocking trucks from leaving or entering the facility.
As The Guardian reports, the next scheduled negotiation between workers and the parent company Ferrero isn’t scheduled until June 13th.
All I can say is I’ll be keeping parents who don’t know what to buy their children for Christmas in mind. If this gets too dire, there will be no more personalised Nutella stocking fillers.
Perhaps now is the perfect time to reconsider your Nutella habits and seek out an alternative, cruelty-free brand of hazelnut deliciousness. Though Nutella has claimed that they source their palm oil from sustainable plantations, a vegan alternative might make you feel better about your indulging habits. Because everything that’s vegan is good for you, right? I personally recommend Vego spread, it’s just superbly gorgeous and you can reuse the packaging as storage. You can buy it online, here.
