Del Monte Pacific streamlines US operations

FOOD conglomerate Del Monte Pacific Ltd. is streamlining its US operations to unlock efficiencies from a consolidation program.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, DMPL said its subsidiary in the United States, Del Monte Foods Inc. (DMFI), was closing its vegetable operations located in Turkey, North Carolina and transferring production to other U.S. facilities in the Del Monte network.

This streamlining will affect 230 full-time employees and 92 seasonal workers at the North Carolina plant.

To achieve the efficiencies from this operational decision, DMFI expects to incur one-time costs but it assured that these would not materially impact the group’s 2016 full year results, DMPL said.

“This timely decision will allow DMFI to consolidate and streamline operations to meet customer driven quality demands,” DMPL executive chair Rolando Gapud said in a press statement.

DMFI, which has a 26 percent market share in the canned fruit market in the US, said it’s working with local officials regarding this closure.