Kraft Heinz To Cut 2,600 U.S., Canada Factory Jobs

Kraft Heinz Co. announced plans on Wednesday to cut 2,600 factory-based jobs and close seven U.S. plants and one Canadian plant following an "extensive review" of its North American supply chain. The facilities will close in stages over the next 12 to 24 months, and production from the impacted locations will shift to other existing factories in the U.S., a company spokesperson said. The company called the move a "critical step" in a plan to eliminate "excess capacity" and reduce operating redundancies for the new combined company. These job cuts come in addition to the 2,500 non-factory job cutsthe company announced in August, as part of a plan to save $1.5 billion in costs. Shares of Kraft Heinz fell 0.5% to $76.03 in recent trade. They have fallen 4.7% over the last three months, versus a 0.4% increase for the S&P 500. The impacted plants are in Fullerton, California; San Leandro, California; Federalsburg, Maryland; St. Marys, Ontario, Canada; Campbell, New York; Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania; and Madison, Wisconsin. Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz merged in July.