TreeHouse Foods closing California plant

Oak Brook, Ill.-based TreeHouse Foods said it will close its facility in Visalia, Calif., by the end of the first quarter of 2019. The plant primarily produces pretzels and cereal snack mixes for the baked goods segment.

TreeHouse, which specializes in private brand packaged goods, said current pretzel production will be moved to other TreeHouse manufacturing facilities prior to the plant closure. The plant closure will affect approximately 294 employees. The 234,000 square-foot plant was built in 1960.

The company also said the decision is consistent with the August 2017 announcement of TreeHouse 2020, the company's restructuring program. TreeHouse 2020 is a multi-year plan to fully integrate the business and reduce its cost structure in order to invest in market-differentiated capabilities that will serve the rapidly evolving needs of its customers who are strategically focused and highly committed to their corporate brands.

Last week, TreeHouse reported a fourth-quarter loss per fully diluted share of $5.40 compared to a loss of $4.96 reported for the fourth quarter of 2016.

"Our cash flow delivery continues to be robust, and although our fourth quarter earnings were in line with our expectations, our operational results were disappointing," said Sam K. Reed, TreeHouse’s chairman, CEO and president. "We are well-positioned within the private label marketplace; however, it is imperative that we build a more effective and efficient foundation for private label customer engagement. Our infrastructure is unrivaled in our sector, and we continue to see opportunity to, over time, achieve consistent organic growth and margin expansion in parallel."