By: Vanessa Lu Business reporter, Business Reporter, Published on Thu Nov 14 2013
Factory, which opened in 1909, is the second-largest Heinz plant in the world.
In Leamington, Ont., a town synonymous with tomatoes and ketchup, Heinz Canada announced Thursday it is closing its century-old plant, throwing 740 people out of work. Company officials called employees to a meeting Thursday afternoon, where they were told that the last production run of giant plant, which makes everything from ketchup to condiments and baby food to tomato juice, would be in mid-year 2014. The move comes just months after Heinz was taken private by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital in a $23.3 billion deal. Heinz also announced two other plant closings in South Carolina and Idaho, affecting 610 more employees. In a letter handed out to Leamington employees, Heinz said the decision comes after a two-month review of operations, looking at how maximize efficiencies and leverage scale. “This decision is not a reflection of the commitment of our employees or the quality of the products you make. It is based primarily on excess capacity in our North American manufacturing system,” the letter said. Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen said production at the three plants will shift in a staged process over the next six to eight months to five other existing factories in St. Marys, Ont., Ohio, Iowa and California.
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