Shares in Greencore (GNC) fell on Monday after the convenience food manufacturer voluntarily recalled some sandwiches that had been sold in the US near the end of September. The Food and Drug Association (FDA) found traces of listeria during an environmental sampling, although no finished products were found with the bacteria and no confirmed illnesses have been reported.
Greencore has been the subject of a string of bad news in recent weeks. At the end of August the company released a statement that management were not aware of any developments since its third-quarter trading update that could have caused the share price weakness. Though it was noted that the company would stop producing frozen products at a site in Florida for a large US coffee chain, and instead focus on supplying fresh foods. Management reassured shareholders that the transition would be “managed seamlessly” with limited impact on profitability, but shares still fell on the day.
In April shares were down after Tyson, Greencore’s biggest US customer, announced that it had bought a rival business Advance Pierre. But the deal may not be such bad news for Greencore since Tyson could end up outsourcing some of Advance Pierre’s production to the food-to-go manufacturer.
