Around 140 jobs are under threat at O'Kanes poultry plant in Ballymena.
The company said the cuts are being forced on them by new EU legislation, which will ban the industry from labelling defrosted poultry as fresh or chilled from next May.
The European move arises from the desire to help consumers and better inform them about what they are eating.
"It's disappointing especially coming up to Christmas. For most people working in O'Kanes are family people. I'm sure they are going to find it difficult," Ballymena Councillor Beth Adger said.
The Department of Agriculture and the Food Standards Agency have challenged the decision by the company to blame the cuts on the new EU directive.
The Ulster Farmers Union said the EU directive is about creating better food labelling, adding the loss of jobs is unfortunate.
"While this is a regret that potentially there's going to be job losses in the Ballymena area with regard to poultry processing, hopefully this is a short-term measure which can be overcome by the company," Graham Furey from the Ulster Farmers Union told UTV.
© UTV News