Unilever will cut up to 125 jobs in the US after announcing plans to close close its Atlanta-based spreads factory.
The group said late last week that it will close the plant by 30 June this year.
"The action is being taken to address spare capacity among Unilever US-based spreads plants," said the firm, which produces I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Country Crock and Imperial at the site.
Unilever's decision follows a weak performance for the group's global food business in the final months of 2012. Spreads, in particular, saw sales drop in the fourth quarter of the year, largely because the firm lowered prices to bolster its market share in some countries.
For the 12 months to the end of December, Unilever said last week that its global profits and underlying sales rose by 7%.
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Unilever today announced it will be closing its Atlanta-based spreads factory by June 30, 2013. The action is being taken to address spare capacity among Unilever U.S.-based spreads plants.
This decision will affect 125 salaried and hourly employees at the Atlanta factory, where the company manufactures Country Crock, Imperial, and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.
About Unilever United States, Inc.
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong operations in more than 100 countries and sales in 190. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day. In the United States the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Good Humor, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond’s, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragú, Simple, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemmé, Vaseline, and Wish-Bone. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.
Our ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with goals to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as to source all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
Unilever employs almost 11,000 people in the United States – generating over $9 billion in sales in 2012.
