Heinz consolidates Golden Circle beverage plants

Heinz will close its Golden Circle beverage manufacturing plant at Mill Park Victoria next year and will instead ramp up manufacturing its Northgate, Queensland plant.

Over 150 jobs will reportedly go when the Mill Park facility in Victoria closes, but Heinz says it will inject $8 million into upgrading its Queensland Golden Circle beveragemanufacturing plant to boost production.

Golden Circle started out as a pineapple cannery in 1947. It expanded into fruit juice and canned fruit and vegetables and, in 2008, Heinz Australia acquired the company.

In 2011, Heinz slashed 160 jobs at the Northgate plant.  Heinz had planned to install robotic palletisation and improve efficiency at Mill Park, however, the small size of the plant made the capital investment required too costly to continue to operate.

According to Heinz the consolidation of the beverage operations will help the company remain competitive in the long term.