General Mills has announced plans to close its Mount Waverley facility in Victoria as part of a restructure to consolidate its Australian operations.
The Mount Waverley facility will close between April and June 2018, and the Victorian operations will be shifted to the company’s expanded production facility in Rooty Hill, Sydney.
General Mills said the decision was made in order to “simplify General Mills’ supply chain and secure the future growth of the business”.
General Mills said it would work to redeploy and relocate employees to Rooty Hill “as appropriate”, but most roles from Mount Waverley were likely to become redundant.
General Mills is a large global food company, with offices or manufacturing facilities in more than 30 countries. Its regional headquarters are located in Melbourne, and it employs around 400 people in Australia.
General Mills brands include Latina fresh pasta and sauces, Pasta Master chilled Italian meals, pasta and sauces, Betty Crocker baking mixes and frostings, Nature Valley Snacks and Old El Paso Mexican food products.
The Mount Waverley facility has manufactured Latina products for more than 20 years, and the plant had become the company's global R&D network centre of excellence for chilled meals.
It was also responsible for product development in the Latina, Betty Crocker and Old El Paso brands on a global scale.
In 2013, a chilled meals capability was introduced to facility, which the company said would allow it to extend its Latina brand into single-serve pasta meals and family-sized lasagna and cannelloni products.
Earlier this month, Baiada Poultry, which manufactures the Steggles and Lilydale brands, also announced plans to close down its processing operations in Victoria and reduce its headcount by around 100.
