Saputo, a Canadian dairy company, plans to close another production facility in the United States.
The business will shut its Lancaster, Wisconsin, facility in the fourth quarter of its 2024 fiscal year, which runs from January to the end of March next year.
Saputo, the dairy behemoth, plans to shut another unit in the United States.
6 September 2021, close-up of sign at Saputo headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Photographer: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com
The closure will effect around 100 employees. Saputo said that they will be offered the option of transferring to other, undisclosed facilities.
Saputo announced the shutdown of another factory in the state in August of last year. The Belmont cheese plant will close in the same quarter as the Lancaster location.
Saputo has completed the conversion of a third facility in Wisconsin. The Reedsburg factory will take over manufacturing from Lancaster.
The company’s chair, president, and CEO, Lino Saputo, described the Reedsburg location as “another milestone on our journey to strengthen the competitiveness and long-term performance of our USA cheese network.”
He went on to say: “The network optimisation initiatives announced today will increase operational efficiency and capacity utilisation in our USA Sector, while further improving our cost structure.”
According to Rabobank, Saputo, one of the world’s ten biggest dairy firms by yearly revenue, will release its second-quarter financial results next week.
Saputo’s sales declined 2.8% to C$4.2 billion ($3.05 billion) in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
“Adjusted” EBITDA increased 4.3% to C$362 million, although Saputo said it will fall short of a goal set for that measure by fiscal 2025 owing to falling consumer demand and ongoing “market headwinds.”
Saputo stated in April that it will sell two plants in Australia to Coles, the country’s second-largest retailer.
However, Australia’s competition authority delayed its verdict on the acquisition in September.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was scheduled to submit its findings on September 14th, but it has said that it is still receiving comments from “parties” that have previously expressed reservations about the agreement.
