Jobs Cuts: Constellation Clarifies

By Andrew Starke

Constellation Brands has laid-off 40 staff at its South Australian bottling headquarters as the global wine giant repositions resources closer to its core UK market.

A spokesperson for Constellation Brands in Australia told TheShout that the cuts were a direct result of the company’s decision to prioritize Constellation Park in the UK, its flagship bottling facility.

“As part of our ongoing focus to pursue stronger, more sustainable results and ensure we are optimising all our assets, we have taken the decision to expand our in-market Australian wine bottling program at Constellation Park,” she said.

“Whilst this move will increase employment at Constellation Park by some 20 positions, there have been 40 positions within the Reynella packaging, packaging maintenance, winery, laboratory and quality group impacted.

“Voluntary redundancies have been accepted for all of these positions, and all impacted personnel have been offered full exit assistance.”

While Constellation’s streamlining of its local operations was inevitable once it had decided to bottle and package more Australian wine in the UK, the job losses are another blow to the embattled wine sector.

“Importantly, this expanded in-market bottling program will improve our service and response times for UK and European customers, in addition to lessening the impact of fluctuating currencies and reducing our environmental footprint,” said the spokesperson.

It is not known if the proposed merger between Constellation Wines Australia and Australian Vintage could result in further restructuring and job cuts.