Dive Brief:
- The Kellogg Co. is closing its frozen foods facility in Clearfield, UT, a 100,000-square-foot plant that manufactures products like Gardenburger and Morningstar Farms and employs about 200 people.
- At the same time, Kellogg is expanding its cereal plant in Belleville, Ontario, to accommodate increased demand for products like Special K Protein and Froot Loops.
- Kellogg also announced that Paul Norman would be the company's president of Kellogg North America. The company says he is being rewarded for his work leading U.S. Morning Foods and establishing new global category teams.
Dive Insight:
The Utah plant closure is part of Kellogg's four-year efficiency plan, Project K. This cost-cutting initiative was announced at the end of 2013 after the company reported less than ideal sales for the year. The ultimate goal for the plan is to eliminate excess capacity and consolidate plants, ultimately cutting about 7% of Kellogg's workforce by the end of 2017. Project K has already led to other facility closures as well, including a Georgia snack factory, North Carolina snack plant, and Ontario cereal plant.
Alistair Hirst, senior vice president of the global supply chain at Kellogg, said, "One of the objectives of Project K is to build the supply chain of the future. We are working to ensure that we are operating the right number of plants — in the right locations — to better meet our current and future production needs and the evolving needs of our retail customers and consumers," according to Food Business News.