Boston, MA 09/24/2014 (wallstreetpr) – In a bid to trim expenses and production capacity, General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) is looking at the plan of closing down its cereal plant located in Lodi, California by the end of the year 2015. The effect of the closure of the plant, which also manufactures Cheerios is currently not assessed, but the final decision depends on the negotiation talks with the union officials. The plant currently employs 430 employees.
Closure Of Lodi Plant
The company further stated that it would also decide on consolidating manufacturing at other plants that lay within the company’s supply chain. Other than the Buffalo plant, General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) is also vying to close down its Methuen, Mass plant that produced yogurt by the end of summer of 2015. The closure is estimated to affect nearly 144 employees working at the plant. As per the company’s representative, Bridget Christenson, it is early to say accurately about what impact does the closure of Lodi plant will have on its Buffalo facility. The decision comes on the back of weakness prevalent in the cereal industry. According to Euromonitor, nearly 90% of Americans are buying ready-to-eat cereal, but still the overall sales of cereal industry is down to nearly $10 billion in 2013 from around $13.9 billion in 2000. Further, the situation is not expected to ease anytime soon as another fall in sales is predicted this year to $9.7 billion.
Feeling The Heat
General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) has been unable to keep itself off bay from the impact of deteriorating sales. The hard times are reflective in the company’s first quarter profits that tumbled 25% to $345 million year over year. The company particularly felt the pinch in its cereal sales, which are down 9%, while the overall sales declined 2.4% to nearly $4.3 billion. In direction of making the business profitable, the company has drawn out a program, called “Project Century”. Under the plan, General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) aims $100 million of annualized savings by the year 2017 and $40 million savings under the pretax head for the year 2015.
