Campbell Soup Co to close down two plants
28 Sep 2012
The world's largest soup maker, Campbell Soup Co, plans to close two plants and cut over 700 jobs in a bid to cut costs as consumption of its canned soups declines.
Campbell Soup said yesterday that it would close a plant in Sacramento, California, which has around 700 full-time workers. The plant, which makes soups, sauces and beverages, was built in 1947 and is the company's oldest plant in the country, which also means it has the highest production costs of Campbell's four US soup plants.
According to the company it planned to shift most of Sacramento's production to Campbell's remaining plants in Maxton, NC; Napoleon, Ohio; and Paris, Texas.
The company also planned to close down a spice plant in South Plainfield, NJ that had 27 employees. Production would shift to the company's other spice plant in Milwaukee.
Employees at the two closing plants in California were notified that there would be a meeting at 6 am local time yesterday for which about 400 workers showed up where they were told of the closure.
The news came as a shock to local employment officials.
