TreeHouse Foods closing St. Louis office

As part of its multi-year restructuring program to reduce its cost structure and administrative footprint, Oakbrook, Ill.-based TreeHouse Foods announced it will close its St. Louis office on June 28. TreeHouse said the closure also will align the organization with the current and future needs of the business.

TreeHouse is a manufacturer of packaged foods and beverages with a network of over 40 manufacturing facilities across the U.S., Canada and Italy that focuses primarily on private-branded products for retail grocery.

TreeHouse acquired the St. Louis facility when it purchased Conagra's private brands business in 2016. The facility is the former headquarters of Ralcorp, a private brands food manufacturer, which Conagra acquired in 2013.

The St. Louis office closure will affect about 170 employees, and the related work content will be consolidated into TreeHouse's existing facilities in Oak Brook. 

"We appreciate the contributions that the employees at the St. Louis location have made over time. Our decision to close St. Louis was not taken lightly, and we are committed to providing employee assistance through this challenging transition," said Steve Oakland, CEO and president of TreeHouse Foods, in a statement. "As we streamline our organization into four divisions (from five) and build our commercial excellence capabilities, it is both prudent and strategic that we also consolidate our administrative locations."

Costs associated with the office closure are expected to be incurred primarily over the three quarters ending June 30 and will total approximately $7.8 million, most of which is anticipated to be in cash, TreeHouse said.