Whyte’s closing its Brantford, Ont. pickle plant
by The Canadian Press
Company says move to its Quebec operations will help it compete
LAVAL, Que.—Quebec-based Whyte’s Foods Inc. is closing its Brantford, Ont., pickle plant.
Privately owned Whyte’s said Tuesday that production in Brantford is being gradually curtailed beginning immediately, with a complete closing of the plant scheduled for late January.
At that time, production of the full line of Strub’s pickle products will be relocated to the company’s Quebec production facilities in St-Louis-sur-Richelieu and Laval.
The relocation is the result of an extensive internal review by the Whyte’s management team since the acquisition of the Strub’s assets last June 18 through a bankruptcy court proceeding, the company said in a release.
This relocation will affect 43 full-time Brantford employees hired in June on short-term contracts when Whyte’s purchased the Strub’s brand and assets.
About a third of the current positions at the Brantford plant will be phased out by Dec. 21, although employees will be offered the opportunity to apply for a position at production facilities and a distribution centre in Quebec to fill an anticipated 40 to 50 new jobs that will be created, the company said.
“This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make and announce today as we purchased the Strub’s assets with the goal of expanding our Whyte’s production facilities into Ontario to serve our growing national base of customers,” said Philippe Blondin, vice-president, procurement.
“After five months of intensive analysis, we have concluded that relocating the production of Strub’s products to our facilities in Quebec would enable us to compete more effectively with foreign competitors.”
