Several Campbell’s Soup employees said the company announced earlier today the soup side of the plant will be closing, which would result in approximately 300 employees losing their job, however, the company said “we do not have a final decision yet.”
“It is our intention to transform the site into a sauce-only facility focused on producing Prego Italian Sauces and Pace Salsa and transferring soup production to other site in our network,” said James Regan, director of external communications. “This is a difficult decision that could results in a workforce reduction of approximately 300 of the nearly 680 roles at the Paris site.”
Earlier this year, Campbell’s said they were reviewing the role the Paris plant plays in its network and based on analysis to date and positive discussions with the local economic development agency on incentives, Campbell’s “anticipates that the Paris site will continue to play a role in our network.”
“We do not have a final decision yet on the future of the site. We are in touch with union leadership to schedule negotiation sessions in the coming weeks and look forward to collaborating to reach a successor collective bargaining agreement. During these negotiations, we will address the effects of any decision made about the plant.”
No further information is available at this time.
Production at 1.5 million sq. ft. Paris plant started in 1964 and primarily manufacturers Prego pasta sauce, Pace salsa, and a small volume of soup (~10% of total soup). There is a total of 681 employees, 587 hourly represented by UFCW and 94 salaried, and can manufacturer, Silgan, is co-located on-site.