Swiss giant Nestlé has restructured its sales workforce in Germany, affecting around 80 jobs.

The Maggi and Purina Petcare brands will continue to be managed internally by Nestlé in terms of sales. They will be combined into a common field service organisation, according to the food major.

Meanwhile, all sales activities for coffee, confectionery and dairy in Germany will be outsourced to an unnamed external partner.

The external partner will also take care of the plant-based Garden Gourmet brand and condiment brand Thomy.

A Nestlé spokesperson told Just Food: “The realignment of the field service is necessary in order to be able to plan efficiently and effectively for the future – while maintaining the same level of service at the point of sale.

“Especially in these challenging times, we need more resources to continue to invest in our brands and competitiveness. Our ultimate goal is to find socially acceptable solutions and, where possible, to avoid redundancies due to operating conditions.”

The spokesperson confirmed to Just Food that around 80 employees will be affected by the “realignment” but the decision to outsource for field sales was based off previous positive experiences with some other brands such as Nestlé Nutrition.

The restructuring is set to be implemented by the end of 2024 or early 2025.

Nestlé announced further job cuts earlier this month in the US, as some 77 workers in Solon in Ohio will lose their jobs between December and August next year.

Meanwhile, the Maggi owner announced more layoffs in Switzerland in October. Around 90 employees are set to be affected by the “restructuring” of the group’s Wangen facility which currently specialises in producing fresh dough.