Snyder’s-Lance to close Florida chips plant

Snack foods maker Snyder’s-Lance, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is closing its chips plant in Perry, Florida, as part of a performance transition plan. The plant is expected to close by the end of September. This decision is intended to enable the company to more effectively utilize the capacity of its remaining chips plants and re-allocate resources to support the company’s growth objectives, according to a Snyder’s-Lance statement.

As part of the plan intended to streamline the company’s processes and structure, the company is reducing its workforce by about 250 positions. The layoffs will occur across the organization.

“This has been a very difficult decision for our organization and we sincerely appreciate how difficult this is for our impacted team members and their families,” said Brian Driscoll, president and chief executive officer of Snyder’s-Lance. “However, this is a required first step to improve our financial performance, balancing costs and expected levels of profitability in a very competitive environment. These actions are in-line with our previously communicated intentions to initiate a broad-based strategic plan to optimize our cost structure. We will provide a comprehensive overview of the multi-year transformation plan when we report our second quarter financial results on August 8.”

The company will also restructure its sales organization. In connection with the restructure, John Maples has been named chief customer officer, effective immediately. He joined Snyder’s-Lance in 2015 and most recently served as president of the Direct Sales Division. Maples has a consumer background with over 25 years of CPG experience to include executive roles at ConAgra, Primo Water and PepsiCo.

In addition, and as part of the re-organization, Frank Schuster, currently president of the DSD Division, has been appointed to president of sales execution, reporting to Maples, and will continue to lead the company’s national distribution network and in-store execution.