In October 2018 it was reported that due to a 40% sales drop which was recorded for 6 years prior to Castel acquiring the company.

Common hearsay was that the closure was due to the Sobo ban by the Malawi Bureau of Standards, a claim that Castel Staff dismissed. “The closure is strictly due to the 40% losses; the financial situation of Castel Malawi today does not allow maintaining the operation of three factories in the country” said Castel Malawi’s Managing Director, Gilles Leclerc, who announced that ceasing of production in Mzuzu did not mean ceasing the supply and availability of products in Mzuzu.

Months later, while people stated the development was cause of unemployment, Biznews spoke with the company’s employee who wished to be anonymous, revealing that the Mzuzu employees would be transferred to the Blantyre and Lilongwe plants.

With the official date of transfer or closure being rumored, the relief is that the employees get to keep their jobs.