Kraft Heinz slashing 2,500 as part of steep cost-cutting plan following merger

Kraft Heinz says it is cutting about 2,500 jobs as part of its plan to slash costs after the food companies combined.

The company says it has a total of around 46,600 employees. Spokesman Michael Mullen says affected workers are in the U.S. and Canada and were to be notified in person. About 700 of the cuts were coming at Kraft's Northfield, Illinois, headquarters.

The job cuts are not surprising, given the reputation of the company's management on Wall Street.

The combination of Heinz and Kraft earlier this year was engineered by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, which has become known for its tight cost controls.

Bernardo Hees — a 3G partner — is CEO of the merged Kraft Heinz.