The Kraft Heinz site was used to manufacture Polly-O cheese. © Google
Kraft Heinz has signed an agreement to sell its cheese plant in Campbell, New York, to Upstate Niagara Cooperative.
As part of the deal, Kraft Heinz has pledged an investment of between $3-5 million to improve and maintain the facility. The transfer is expected to be completed in the next two months.
Upstate Niagara is a farmer-owned cooperative of 360 dairy farms in west New York State.
Kraft Heinz SVP of corporate and government affairs Michael Mullen said: “We’re thrilled to announce that Upstate Niagara Cooperative has agreed to purchase our Campbell dairy facility and has signed a long-term co-packing agreement with Kraft Heinz.
“This deal guarantees that at least 125 jobs will remain in Campbell with anticipated growth to 150 within a year, during which our business customers will experience zero disruption in the service of our dairy products.”
Upstate Niagara Cooperative CEO Larry Webster said: “We look forward to adding the Campbell cheese facility to our organisation in the coming weeks.
“As a dairy cooperative owned by farm families throughout the region, this acquisition is an investment by our member owners towards continued and long-term growth for our cooperative and the Campbell facility.
“We are proud to be able to keep manufacturing jobs within the community while offering additional products and manufacturing capabilities to our customers.”
Kraft Heinz is the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world. During the first quarter of 2017 it saw sales fall by 3.1% to $6.36 billion. It said this decline was offset by gains from cost saving initiatives.
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