Production resumes at world’s biggest Nutella plant

PARIS (AP) — Workers at the world’s biggest Nutella factory have removed picket lines and are back at work after production was brought to a near standstill for more than a week over a dispute on salaries.

Ferrero, the owner of the hugely popular hazelnut and chocolate spread, said Wednesday that access to the factory was reopened overnight and that “normal activity” had resumed at the site.

Though exact details of why the blockade had been halted, the company praised the “positive outcome” that has allowed employees to resume their work “calmly.”

Activists from Workers’ Force at the factory in Villers-Ecalles in Normandy had barred trucks from entering or leaving the factory for more than a week.

Spokeswoman Prescillia Bourguignon said management had made “positive progress,” adding that more negotiations would take place.

According to the union, the 160 of the factory’s 350 workers who took part in the walkout demanded a 4.5% salary increase, one-time 900-euro ($1,000) bonuses and better working conditions. It was unclear whether their demands had been granted.

The plant produces 600,000 jars of the chocolate and hazelnut spread every day — a quarter of the world’s output.