More than 200 people will lose their jobs in St. Marys, Ont. as Kraft Heinz closes seven factories in North America over the next two years.

Newly-merged Kraft Heinz announced Wednesday they were closing plants in the U.S. and Canada that will eliminate about 2,600 jobs or about 12 per cent of the North American factory workforce.

In a statement, St. Marys Mayor Al Strathdee said, "Richardson Foods and Heinz Canada have had a strong and long presence in our community, and we sincerely appreciate the excellent working relationship they have had with the Town. We are saddened today to learn that the Kraft Heinz Company has decided to close their St. Marys facility."

The other six manufacturing facilities being closed are all in the U.S., including: Fullerton and San Leandro, California; Federalsburg, Maryland; Campbell, New York; Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania; and Madison, Wisconsin.

Strathdee offered his support to the 214 employees in St. Marys as they "enter into this uncertain time in their lives."

"We will be working with Partners in Employment and will be taking a proactive role as they work to place the employees affected by this closure. It is our sincere hope that these individuals will be able to find employment in the Town of St. Marys and remain a part of our community," he added.

The company is also making other changes that will see it slimmed down to 41 plants in North America, employing about 18,000 people.

In addition to the closures:

  • existing lunch-meat processing plant in Davenport, Iowa, closing and production moved to new state-of-the-art plant to be built several miles away within two years
  • part of the company's cheese production being moved away from Champaign, Illinois
  • 250 corporate jobs in the Oscar Mayer and U.S. meat business unit relocated from Madison, Wisconsin, to Chicago

In a statement, Michael Mullen, senior vice-president of corporate and government affairs,said, "Our decision to consolidate manufacturing across the Kraft Heinz North American network is a critical step in our plan to eliminate excess capacity and reduce operational redundancies for the new combined company."

He added, "This will make Kraft Heinz more globally competitive and accelerate the company's future growth...We have reached this difficult but necessary decision after thoroughly exploring extensive alternatives and options."

With files from The Associated Press