Herfelingen (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The enterprise Royal A-ware plans to close the well-known Olympia dairy factory in Herfelingen in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, due to outdated installations. Royal A-ware administered the Dutch acquisition but determined that the factory did not use modern equipment efficiently enough. 168 jobs may disappear. Olympia has been around since 1954.
Olympia dairy factory, located in Herfelingen, will close its doors for the last time following 70 years of continuous activity. The facility’s outdated infrastructure no longer supports efficient production under the new Dutch owner Royal A-ware, since 168 jobs are now at stake.
Since its establishment in 1954 in the dairy-centred region, Olympia faced financial obstacles, but Royal A-ware acquired the business in 2022. The management team made the closure announcement through a special works council meeting because the plant needed costly modern efficiency and quality upgrades to survive.
Royal A-ware says it has invested in the maintenance of the installations and has adjusted the organisational structure.
“Unfortunately, too many of the installations and infrastructure are so outdated that complete new construction is needed to meet current and future efficiency and quality requirements. The investments that this requires are not economically justifiable,”
says Royal A-ware.
Olympia is a permanent fixture in the Pajottenland. Mayor Kris Poelaert (CD&V) calls the closure a heavy blow for the region:
“First and foremost, I want to express my condolences to all 168 employees who are being laid off. This is really drastic for those people, but also for other companies and suppliers. Moreover, Olympia was really embedded in the association life, they supported a lot of activities.”
Olympia began operations in 1946 because the Van Impe family purchased the Saica butter factory in Herfelingen before adopting the Zuivelfabriek van Herfelingen brand in 1954. Kamiel Van Impe and his sons Marc and Luc designed a completely new factory that they built in Herfelingen along the Steenweg op Asse in 1991. By offering this arrangement, Olympia gained full control of international clients, including significant dairy corporation operations. A completely new dessert manufacturing department started operating in 2003.
What led to the closure of the Olympia dairy factory in Herfelingen?
In 1946, the Herfelingen Dairy Factory established itself before becoming an essential dairy producer in Belgium, when the Van Impe family took over the former Saica butter plant, which grew into Olympia after name changes in 1954.
A new production site was built by Olympia in 1991 to handle international orders, and a dessert division started operations in 2003. Olympia faced financial trouble in 2018 after rebuilding following fire devastation in 2012 and implementing sustainable packaging solutions before Dutch dairy group Royal A-ware acquired it in 2022.
Several decades later, Royal A-ware determined that it couldn’t afford to modernise the factory infrastructure, which landed it on the path to closure. The business shutdown affects 168 staff members while damaging both the Pajottenland region and its tight-knit business and community connections. Labor representatives from unions and workers will soon conduct social consultations to determine the future of the site.
