Mrs. Alison's Cookie Co. to close St. Louis plant

Mrs. Alison's Cookie Company, a division of the Parmalat Bakery Group announced it plans to close its 40-year old manufacturing operations located at 1780 Burns Avenue, on July 6. Cookie production operations will be transferred to other Bakery Division plants. Approximately 100 employees will be affected. The company's sales, distribution and administration operations will remain in St. Louis.

The popular Mrs. Alison's Cookie brand will continue to be sold in all-Midwestern states. The change in production operations will not affect customers. Mrs. Alison's Cookie Company was acquired in 1994 by Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A., an international food company located in Parma, Italy.

``This was a very difficult decision,'' said Peter Lowes, senior vice president, Parmalat Bakery Group North America. ``We constantly review our operations to be sure we are making best use of our facilities. After considerable review, we determined that the St. Louis cookie production should be consolidated into our other larger facilities. This action will permit us to continue to manage the total performance of the bakery operations in the most efficient manner.''

Employees will receive severance benefits and offered re-employment counseling.

Source: Parmalat Bakery Group