A fire broke out March 28 at the Wiesenhof poultry processing plant in Lohne, Germany, causing extensive damage to at least two halls but no injuries, according to Zeit Online. The fire caused millions of Euros worth of damages.
As it was a public holiday, there were few workers on site at the time, and there were no slaughtering activities. Around 60 fire trucks and more than 400 emergency workers attended the fire, which has been extinguished. Its cause has not yet been identified.
According to the report, around 370,000 broilers are slaughtered at the plant daily, and arrangements have been made for birds to be transferred to other plants.
The Wiesenhof brand belongs to the PHW Group, Europe’s third largest poultry processing company.
According to its latest annual report published in February of 2016, PHW Group’s turnover increased by 4.8 percent from the previous year to EUR2.38 billion (US$2.67 billion) in 2014-15. Anticipating growth in high-welfare and vegan product ranges, the company invested EUR115.2 million (US$129.1 million) in its own plants and the workforce was strengthened from 5,082 to 6,619, due to growth in the Convenience segment, a new logistics company and additional employees at the company’s subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Bulgaria.
Since 2012, all Wiesenhof sites of the PHW Group have been prepared for certification in accordance with the “Sustainable Food Business” standard (ZNU). Five of the company’s plants received this certification last year, and the slaughterhouse at Lohne was among those being prepared to meet the same standards by the end of 2016.
