General Mills Closing Plants Incl. Progresso; To Affect 1400 Jobs

(RTTNews) - packaged-food company General Mills Thursday announced plant closures, including Progresso soup factory in Vineland, amid weakening demand, affecting roughly 1,400 jobs worldwide. The planned restructuring in its global supply chain would impact its U.S., Brazil, and China operations.

In a statement, General Mills, which makes Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt among other products, said its tentative decision to close its manufacturing facility in Vineland, New Jersey would impact approximately 370 employees. The company plans to transfer production to other U.S. facilities to eliminate excess soup capacity in its North America supply chain. The closure, subject to negotiation with union officials, would be completed by the first quarter of fiscal 2018. General Mills operate the Vineland facility since 2001.

Further, the company agreed to sell its Martel, Ohio, facility, which manufactures dry baking mix products, to Mennel Milling Co., which would impact approximately 180 employees. The deal is expected to conclude by the second quarter of fiscal 2017, subject to negotiations with union officials. Mennel would act as a supplier to General Mills following the deal.

General Mills also has made a decision to close the Marília manufacturing facility and distribution center in Brazil, impacting approximately 420 impacted employees. The facility closure and the transfer of production out of São Bernardo do Campo will be completed in the first quarter of fiscal 2017.

Further, General Mills has decided to exit the fruit snacks business in China, resulting in the loss of approximately 300 positions. The company will stop producing Trix products at its Nanjing, China, facility during the first quarter of fiscal 2017, but will continue to make Bugles snacks.

The latest job cuts represent some 3.6 percent decrease in the workforce at General Mills, which has about 39,000 employees.

Last month, General Mills reported a 12 percent drop in U.S. retail sales in its fourth quarter, even as overall retail sales grew 2.8 percent.

In recent years, other packaged-food companies have reduced their factory capacity for cereal or soup on slowing demand, including Kellogg Co., and Campbell Soup. Co.