ConAgra Foods has said that it will be laying off about 300 employees at its Slim Jim production facility in North Carolina, after an explosion that killed three workers at the site.
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In the wake of the explosion, the US food giant transferred Slim Jim production to other facilities in order to meet customers’ needs.
“As you know, there was severe damage done to our plant in the accident and our production capabilities were significantly reduced. In fact, our production capabilities have been reduced by about 50% as a result of the 9 June accident and this lay off is a direct result of the accident,” a spokesperson for the company told just-food.
According to the spokesperson, the Garner site’s south building – where the explosion occurred – is “inoperable”. While the company has moved what production it can to the north building, the remainder of ConAgra’s Slim Jim production needs are being met by the group’s Ohio plant and third-party manufacturers.
“Our next steps include focusing on replenishing our supply of Slim Jims to meet customer demand; removing the debris from the accident and demolishing the south building, where the accident occurred; and finalising our assessment of our production capabilities now that we have restructured our production process of Slim Jims,” the spokesperson revealed.
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By GlobalData“This has been a very difficult, but necessary decision to ensure the long-term health of our Slim Jim business. However, we hope that by giving two months notice of the lay off, in particular, we will help ease the transition for those employees who will be affected.”
