Campbell Soup Closing Toronto Factory, Shifting Production to U.S.

Campbell Soup Company announced that it would close its Toronto, Canada, plant and shift production to three U.S. factories.

The company revealed Wednesday that the Toronto facility, which first opened in 1931, would be closed in several phases over 18 months before moving production to facilities in Maxton, North Carolina; Paris, Texas; and Napolean, Ohio.

The move will result in the loss of 380 Canadian jobs, but it is unclear how many new jobs will be created in the U.S. A company spokesman told Bloomberg that existing employees would most likely handle the increased soup volume.

Mark Alexander, the president of Campbell’s parent company, Americas Simple Meals and Beverages, said the decision to close was “a difficult one” but ultimately “the best course of action” for the company.

“We are operating in an increasingly challenging environment as our industry’s consumer and retail landscapes continue to change dramatically,” he said in a statement.

Ana Dominguez, president of Campbell’s Canadian operations, said the company decided to close its Toronto plant in part because of overproduction—meaning there is an increase in the supply of soup but not enough demand from consumers.

“Simply put, we are in a situation where we can produce a lot more soup than we can sell,” she told the Toronto Star in an interview.

Dominguez added that the Toronto facility is the oldest and smallest of Campbell’s production facilities in Canada.