Espresso House closes central kitchen after Yle’s working conditions and food hygiene study | News
The company said the new kitchen, which will open later in the spring, will ensure better working conditions for workers and improve food handling.
The coffee chain Espresso House has announced that it will immediately close its former central kitchen in Helsinki Subject of the investigation hazardous working conditions and poor food hygiene standards.
In a press release issued Monday morning, the company said the new central kitchen will open later in the spring.
The statement noted that efforts have been made to improve working conditions in the kitchen and the quality of food handling since last summer, including hiring and training new staff during the fall.
However, the company did not clarify whether the decision to close the kitchen was due to the negative publicity caused by Yle’s report or whether plans had already been made.
“We take this very seriously and will only resume operations from the central kitchen once the deficiencies in the practices have been thoroughly investigated and management issues have been corrected,” the company said in a statement.
Espresso House currently has approximately 460 outlets in five different countries; Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Germany.
The statement on Monday morning ended by saying that the company regrets that it has not been able to guarantee safe working conditions for the staff of the Helsinki Central Kitchen or to ensure proper and hygienic food preparation in accordance with the company’s values.
For the time being, the current employees of the central kitchen will move to Espresso House’s offices in the Helsinki metropolitan area, the press release added.