General Mills Closing Three Plants, Two in Pet Foods, All in Missouri
In a Sept. 25 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, General Mills said it’s closing three plants – a North American foodservice pizza crust manufacturing facility in St. Charles, Mo., and two pet food manufacturing facilities in Joplin, Mo. – that came with the 2024 acquisition of Whitebridge Pet Brands. It could take till mid-2029 to complete the closings.
The moves are called part of the company’s “multi-year organizational initiative to increase the competitiveness of our supply chain,” which was announced in May. They will “consolidate capacity, improve our cost structure, and support this initiative,” the company’s filing said.
The company paid $1.45 billion for Whitebridge, maker of cat pet foods and Big G’s fifth pet-related acquisition in six years.
There also will be unspecified “consolidation of assets at certain of our other facilities, pursuant to which we expect to incur approximately $82 million of restructuring charges,” but which will benefit the company long-term. “We expect these actions to be completed by the end of fiscal 2029,” which for General Mills ends on or near May 31 of that year.
About the Author
Dave Fusaro
Editor in Chief
Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.