Dawn Food: will close doughnut manufacturing plant

Jackson / MI. (div) Dawn Food Products Inc. said that it will close its doughnut manufacturing plant in Ossian / Indiana (USA). The plant will continue operating until the end of June «as we work with the 59 local team members to assist them with the transition», the company said in a news release. The closing will allow Dawn to address expiration of leases, reduce shipping costs, improve customer service and accomplish other objectives, the release cited Partha Kundu, senior vice president of U.S. bakery products. The company also said its human resources staff will work with state and local agencies to provide help for affected employees including outplacement services and support, severance and insurance continuation programs, assistance with state benefit claims filing and one-on-one counseling and job retraining support. «In the last two years we lost 40 percent of our volumes», said Kundu, who cited confidentiality reasons for not releasing specifics on how many cake and yeast doughnuts the company produced annually at the plant. The 80-plus-year-old company has 13 plants. It is assessing whether to concentrate more on its other cake-oriented products, Kundu said. The company lists a variety of products on its Web site, including biscuit mixes, brownies and glazes.