H.J. Heinz
Co. is closing its ketchup plant at Leamington, throwing 740 people out of
work.
It’s 46
contract growers will learn Dec. 1 whether Heinz will continue to buy from them
and haul their tomatoes to the closest plant in the U.S.
The plant
has been using tomatoes grown on about 5,500 acres, making it the prime market
among all fresh vegetable crops grown by farmers in the Leamington area.
The
company says it is closing three ketchup plants to improve efficiency and
because it has excess capacity.
The
company was bought in June by investor Warren Buffett”s company, Berkshire
Hathaway, in partnership with Brazil's richest man, Jorge Paulo Lemann, and his
private equity firm 3G.
They paid $23 billion and now are trimming costs so
they can pay down the $12.5-billion debt they took on in the deal.
The
closure at Leamington will be phased in over six to eight months.
Two other
plants are closing, including one at Pittsburg, ending jobs for more than 1,350 employees.
