Dive Brief:
- Tyson Foods will shut down three of its meat-processing factories and lay off 950 workers.
- The plants earmarked for closure are in Buffalo, NY, Cherokee, Iowa, and Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Output from the three include three facilities hot dogs, sausages, hams, and deli meats.
- The Buffalo facility was cited by OSHA last last year for repeated safety violations.
Dive Insight:
Tyson says that the plan to close the three plants was "under consideration" before the company moved to acquire Hillshire Brands. That may be true. The Buffalo plant in particular may have attracted unwanted attention from corporate following the OSHA actions.
Still, once Tyson agreed to spend $8.55 billion to buy a hot dog, deli meat, and sausage maker, it was inevitable that Tyson's own hot dog, deli meat, and sausage operations would get a close look.