Consumer goods behemoth Unilever yesterday [Thursday] announced that it will close its food manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Illinois.
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It is anticipated that the plant will cease production by the end of the second quarter of 2003, affecting approximately 300 Unilever Bestfoods employees and an additional 250 persons employed by a third-party employment agency.
“Decisions such as this are never taken lightly,” said Neil Beckerman, president and CEO of Unilever Bestfoods North America. “At present, we have three manufacturing plants producing similar products. While tremendously difficult because of the regrettable impact on our colleagues in Montgomery, today’s decision makes good business sense in that it will consolidate overlapping capacity and help us build for the long-term success of the company.”
Unilever will be meeting with employees about benefits and severance packages and will assist in transitioning them to other employment with retraining and job-search programs.
“Our priority over the coming days and weeks will be to communicate openly with all employees in Montgomery. We are committed to ensuring that all our employees are treated with care by doing all that we can to make the transition as smooth as possible,” Beckerman added.
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By GlobalDataProduction at the plant, which manufactures Lipton soups, Lipton side dishes and Lawry’s seasonings, will be transferred to Unilever Bestfoods plants in Asheboro, North Carolina, and Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
The decision is a result of the merger between Unilever and Bestfoods in 2000, and is part of Unilever’s Path to Growth strategy. The strategy identified the need to consolidate production into fewer plants that would be targeted for investment and development. This enables better utilization of assets and improves cost structures, which, in turn, will create a world-class supply chain.
