Ready Pac to continue consolidation with closure of three plants
Ready Pac to continue consolidation with closure of three plants
Irwindale, CA-based Ready Pac Produce Inc. has further consolidated its processing operations by announcing May 13 the closure of its processing facilities in Boisbriand, Canada, Salinas, CA, and Yuma, AZ.
The company is planning to cease production at Boisbriand in late summer of this year. The Salinas and Yuma plants have been seasonal operations with Salinas in production for spring and summer crops and Yuma for the winter crop. Operations in Salinas will close at the end of 2005. Yuma operations already ended with this past winter's crop.
The four remaining plants will be Irwindale, CA, and Florence, NJ, both of which are Ready Pac plants; and Jackson, GA, and Plymouth, IN, both of which had been facilities of Salinas-based Tanimura & Antle prior to T&A merging its Salad Time operation with Ready Pac a year ago. That merger made Ready Pac the nation's third-largest processed salad producer.
Ready Pac president and CEO Larry Kern said in the company's May 13 statement that the consolidation would improve the company's service, innovation and cost structure.
"With this right sizing, we expect to have significant cost efficiency and improved utilization of our plants and assets, which will solidify our strategy of profitable growth across all our categories," Mr. Kern said.
The May 13 announcement follows Ready Pac's decision in early February to shut down production at its Spreckels, CA, facility -- the smaller of the Salinas-area facilities that it acquired in its merger with Salad Time. At the time of the May 13 announcement, that facility already had been shuttered and about 100 employees there had moved to the company's nearby Schilling facility in Salinas. The Salinas-area employees also work at Ready Pac's facility in Yuma during the winter crop season.
Steve Dickstein, vice president of marketing for Ready Pac, said that the company's May 13 consolidation announcement affects about 400 hourly-wage workers in both Salinas and Yuma. All those workers will be offered the opportunity to work in the Irwindale facility and will be offered relocation assistance, Mr. Dickstein said. The Boisbriand facility had 295 hourly wage employees who also are being offered the opportunity to work in the Irwindale facility and are being offered relocation assistance, he said. Employees who elect not to stay with the company will be offered severance assistance.
Though the Salinas operation will cease at the end of this calendar year, the facility will be scaled back gradually, Mr. Dickstein said. In August, the Salinas facility will scale back from two shifts to one shift, he said.
"T&A will continue to remain one of our largest suppliers, Mr. Dickstein said.
Ready Pac said in its May 13 statement that the plant "closures respond to ongoing major changes in the marketplace. Demand for Iceberg lettuce products is continuing to fall while consumer preferences for European-style salads, complete grab-and-go meals, and innovative cut fruit products are growing. These preferences would require the company to retrofit its plants in Canada, Salinas, and Yuma, which would be cost prohibitive.
Mr. Dickstein said that the Iceberg lettuce and cabbage categories are not growing, but that baby leaf and items such as spring mix and spinach mix are on the rise. This trend is evident in both retail and foodservice, he said. Ready Pac's business is growing faster at retail, and the Salinas operation was geared toward foodservice, which further doomed the Salinas facility, he said.
Ready Pac's three lines are fresh-cut salads, fresh-cut fruits and fresh-cut vegetables. Not all of the four remaining plants under the new consolidation had been capable of handling all three lines, but the four plants will be upgraded with the ability to take on added capacity and lines, Mr. Dickstein said. The upgrades should answer logistics challenges Ready Pac's customers had faced, he said.
In its May 13 statement, Ready Pac said that upgrades to its four remaining production facilities would improve its ability to provide overnight delivery to the majority of the market and that each plant will be capable of responding to marketplace changes and serving both retail and foodservice customers.
Ready Pac said in February that its successful "Bistro To Go bowl salad line had significantly expanded its distribution base and become the number one brand of ready-to-eat salads in the country based on what at the time was the latest 12-week data from Information Resources Inc.
The company is planning to cease production at Boisbriand in late summer of this year. The Salinas and Yuma plants have been seasonal operations with Salinas in production for spring and summer crops and Yuma for the winter crop. Operations in Salinas will close at the end of 2005. Yuma operations already ended with this past winter's crop.
The four remaining plants will be Irwindale, CA, and Florence, NJ, both of which are Ready Pac plants; and Jackson, GA, and Plymouth, IN, both of which had been facilities of Salinas-based Tanimura & Antle prior to T&A merging its Salad Time operation with Ready Pac a year ago. That merger made Ready Pac the nation's third-largest processed salad producer.
Ready Pac president and CEO Larry Kern said in the company's May 13 statement that the consolidation would improve the company's service, innovation and cost structure.
"With this right sizing, we expect to have significant cost efficiency and improved utilization of our plants and assets, which will solidify our strategy of profitable growth across all our categories," Mr. Kern said.
The May 13 announcement follows Ready Pac's decision in early February to shut down production at its Spreckels, CA, facility -- the smaller of the Salinas-area facilities that it acquired in its merger with Salad Time. At the time of the May 13 announcement, that facility already had been shuttered and about 100 employees there had moved to the company's nearby Schilling facility in Salinas. The Salinas-area employees also work at Ready Pac's facility in Yuma during the winter crop season.
Steve Dickstein, vice president of marketing for Ready Pac, said that the company's May 13 consolidation announcement affects about 400 hourly-wage workers in both Salinas and Yuma. All those workers will be offered the opportunity to work in the Irwindale facility and will be offered relocation assistance, Mr. Dickstein said. The Boisbriand facility had 295 hourly wage employees who also are being offered the opportunity to work in the Irwindale facility and are being offered relocation assistance, he said. Employees who elect not to stay with the company will be offered severance assistance.
Though the Salinas operation will cease at the end of this calendar year, the facility will be scaled back gradually, Mr. Dickstein said. In August, the Salinas facility will scale back from two shifts to one shift, he said.
"T&A will continue to remain one of our largest suppliers, Mr. Dickstein said.
Ready Pac said in its May 13 statement that the plant "closures respond to ongoing major changes in the marketplace. Demand for Iceberg lettuce products is continuing to fall while consumer preferences for European-style salads, complete grab-and-go meals, and innovative cut fruit products are growing. These preferences would require the company to retrofit its plants in Canada, Salinas, and Yuma, which would be cost prohibitive.
Mr. Dickstein said that the Iceberg lettuce and cabbage categories are not growing, but that baby leaf and items such as spring mix and spinach mix are on the rise. This trend is evident in both retail and foodservice, he said. Ready Pac's business is growing faster at retail, and the Salinas operation was geared toward foodservice, which further doomed the Salinas facility, he said.
Ready Pac's three lines are fresh-cut salads, fresh-cut fruits and fresh-cut vegetables. Not all of the four remaining plants under the new consolidation had been capable of handling all three lines, but the four plants will be upgraded with the ability to take on added capacity and lines, Mr. Dickstein said. The upgrades should answer logistics challenges Ready Pac's customers had faced, he said.
In its May 13 statement, Ready Pac said that upgrades to its four remaining production facilities would improve its ability to provide overnight delivery to the majority of the market and that each plant will be capable of responding to marketplace changes and serving both retail and foodservice customers.
Ready Pac said in February that its successful "Bistro To Go bowl salad line had significantly expanded its distribution base and become the number one brand of ready-to-eat salads in the country based on what at the time was the latest 12-week data from Information Resources Inc.
