Acute price spiral

Slaughterhouse now threatened with closure due to high costs

The successful Handlbauer abattoir is currently struggling because the prices for the disposal of slaughterhouse waste and animal carcasses have been massively increased - according to operator Herbert Handlbauer by as much as 30 percent.(Bild: Robert Loy)

Rising prices but falling revenues! Slaughterhouse operator Herbert Handlbauer is thinking of closing down. This would affect 400 employees. Closing the plant would also have a massive impact on farmers. The entrepreneur accuses a company that disposes of meat waste of abusing its dominant market position.

Herbert Handlbauer has done good business in the past with his abattoirs spread throughout Upper Austria: the company, which has sites in Linz, Wels and Ried im Traunkreis, employs 400 people (250 of whom are regulars) and has an annual turnover of 250 million euros. Cattle and pigs are slaughtered and subsequently cut up in the abattoirs. However, there is now a threat of closure.