Chaudfontaine expects stock shortages after floods

Chaudfontaine, a Belgian bottler of spring waters, is facing stock shortages in the short term. Its factory’s ground floor got largely destroyed during last week’s disastrous floods in Eastern Belgium and Western Germany.

A silver lining

The production site is located along the banks of the Vesdre and was severely affected by the floods. The ground floor, where production and distribution take place, took a beating: the water rose to two metres high. “Despite everything, we were lucky: the first floor, where bottling takes place, was not affected”, Communications Director Eva Lefevre says. The wells and the boreholes that carry the water to the site were not affected either.

For the time being, the 150 employees of the Coca-Cola subsidiary are on furlough. The company hopes to resume production in the coming weeks, but is nonetheless anticipating a stock shortage. “We have redistributed the stocks that were still available to be able to supply our customers as effectively as possible, but in the coming weeks we will, unfortunately, be temporarily unable to supply our Chaudfontaine range”, Lefevre says.

Nearby competitor Spadel, producer of brands including Spa and Bru, suffered no significant damage from the disaster, reports Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad. Due to power failures, production at the Spa plant had to be halted for 24 hours, but the Spa and Bru wells were spared.