A strike at the fictional Sundhavn Produce Terminal in Aarhus has turned a refrigeration fault into a loss of 68 million Danish kroner (about €9.1 million), with 1,140 tonnes of vegetables condemned after cooling failed for nearly 11 hours on Tuesday. Retailers across Jutland have scrambled for lettuce, peppers and cucumbers as wholesale prices climb.
The terminal handles produce from Spain, the Netherlands and Morocco for supermarkets and wholesalers across western Denmark. Its operator says the spoiled stock represented about a quarter of the site’s weekly throughput; leafy vegetables and peppers made up most of the discarded cargo.
Fault meets a walkout
A preliminary incident summary, released by terminal operator Sundhavn Cold Logistics on Thursday, says a control valve in the cooling loop jammed at 03:40 on 20 October. Temperatures in two storage chambers rose from 4°C (39°F) to 13°C (55°F) before cooling was restored at 14:25. The operator said inspection teams rejected the affected cargo on food-safety grounds.
Eighty-six loading and refrigeration workers had begun a strike the previous morning over pay and staffing. The union says it rejected a 2.1% wage offer and a plan to reduce night cover; workers were seeking a 4.2% rise and a guarantee that two trained refrigeration technicians would be on each night shift. “They wanted one person to watch a system that needs two,” said shop steward Sigmund Kuhlman.
“The strike did not break the valve, but it turned a 20-minute reset into an 11-hour failure.” — Tracey Schmeler, company spokesperson
Shops face a costly scramble
Schmeler said the company’s telemetry showed the valve fault was separate from the labour dispute, but the absent technicians meant a contractor had to be called in. The first specialist arrived shortly after 11:00, she said. The company estimates that discarded goods, replacement freight and contract penalties will bring the total bill to 68 million kroner.
The loss is already feeding through to wholesale markets. A regional retailers’ federation reported on Thursday that lettuce prices were up 17% and cucumbers 12% from Monday’s quotations, while some stores in Aarhus had removed selected salad lines from online orders. Margaud Ferrand-Alves, a food-price analyst, said buyers were competing for substitute shipments from Germany and southern Sweden.
“There is stock elsewhere, but not enough to replace a full day’s supply at short notice,” Ferrand-Alves said. She expects prices to stay elevated for at least a week if the strike continues. Several wholesalers have rerouted deliveries through smaller depots, adding hours on the road and extra handling costs.
The workers’ stoppage remained in force on Thursday, with another pay meeting scheduled for Friday. Imre Hegedüs, an official with the regional work-safety inspectorate, said inspectors had taken temperature records and would examine the valve and the terminal’s emergency callout arrangements. The operator says it has restored normal cooling and is arranging replacement shipments, but has not said when all retailers will be supplied as usual.
