Pillsbury to Consolidate and Acquire New Bakery

Effective May 3, the Pillsbury Co. (Minneapolis) will cease production at its plants in Blackwood, NJ, and Lenexa, KS. It will permanently close the two locations by July 2, where production will be shifted to Pillsbury Bakeries and Foodservice (PB&FS) plants in Swedesboro, NJ; Vinita, OK and Montreal, Canada.

"After several months of research and analysis, we determined that it is more cost effective to consolidate the manufacturing, transferring the goods manufactured in Lenexa and Blackwood to plants that have excess capacity," said Randal Baker, VP of operations for PB&FS. Baker said that the plants do not provide the capacity for future growth or expansion and will be sold.

In another step towards consolidation, Pillsbury announced plans for PB&FS to acquire Hazelwood Farms Bakeries, from SUPERVALU INC., the Minneapolis-based food retailer and distributor. Hazelwood Bakeries is a manufacturer of frozen unbaked and par-baked dough products for both the in-store/retail market as well as the bakery foodservice market.

'The supermarket industry's trend toward consolidation has supermarkets turning toward larger, more focused suppliers for their in-store bakery products," said Paul Walsh, Pillsbury chairman and CEO.

Pillsbury, a subsidiary of Diageo, produces a range of grocery items, frozen foods and refrigerated dough products in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Far East. Some of their brands include Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso and Haagen-Dazs.