CSM closes three US production sites
sites and to restructure a further two facilities, the Dutch
ingredients firm announced today.
The company, which claims its supply chain will be optimised through the closures, will shut down plants within subsidiaries BakeMark USA and H.C. Brill.
BakeMark USA, which has only been operating under that name since May after a series of closures early this year resulted in the merging of BakeMark East and BakeMark West, will now be closing its Union City plant, a producer of fillings and powdered sugar, and its Seattle plant, which produces dry mixes. The production of these product ranges will be transferred to Pico Rivera in Los Angeles.
In H.C. Brill, frozen products production in the Atlanta area will be consolidated in the main frozen facility in Tucker, Atlanta. The Atlanta plant will also be the new home for the cookie production from the Oak Creek (Baker & Baker) facility in Wisconsin. The Bibb Street facility in Atlanta will be shut down.
The move comes during a general climate of closures and reorganization within the Dieman-based company's European division, as part of a strategy to improve profitability through "restructuring, divestment and growth."
"In every division, our aim is improved efficiency," confirmed the company.
Last month CSM announced plans to restructure subsidiary Purac Nederland, slicing away 65 jobs in the process.
Earlier this year, it said it would reorganize its BakeMark UK frozen pastry unit and spend €20m restructuring its heavily loss-making French subsidiary Délices de la Tour.
Other activities since January include the closure of the firm's bakery supplies office in Finland and its beet processing operations in Breda.
It has also announced this year the sale of its Swedish subsidiary, BakeMark Sweden, and its Sugar Confectionary Division.
