More than 100 employees could be out of work after a producer of meals, condiments, beverages and snacks announced plans to close a plant in Canada and trim down another in Michigan.
TreeHouse Foods, Inc. announced this week it will close a facility in Delta, British Columbia and reduce its manufacturing footprint in Battle Creek, MI.
According to a press release by TreeHouse, approximately 90 employees will be affected with the closure of the Delta facility, which produces frozen griddle products primarily for the North American retail grocery segment. TreeHouse Foods operates two facilities in Delta, however the announcement only affects the frozen griddle plant. Production is expected to stop in early 2018.
The partial closure of the Battle Creek facility will affect approximately 100 of the current 160 employees. The changes are expected to start going into effect over a 15-month period starting in January 2017. The facility produces ready-to-eat cereal.
The decision is being announced in advance of the downsizing in order to provide employees with as much notice as possible and to ensure a seamless transition for customers, the company said in the release. The company will provide support to employees whose positions are being eliminated, the release stated.
Both affected facilities were part of the TreeHouse Food’s acquisition of the ConAgra Foods private brands business in February of this year.
According to the Wall Street Journal, TreeHouse expects the total costs to close the facilities to be around $14.7 million, or 16 cents a share, with the fourth quarter of this year shouldering $4 million in charges.
The Pittsburg Post-Gazette reports that overall, TreeHouse reported a net income of $37.2 million in the third quarter, compared to $28.4 million during the same period a year ago.