Posted on 12/10/2005 9:17:15 AM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
The Unilever tomato processing plant on Ashby Road in Merced will close its doors next summer, leaving more than 100 employees without jobs.
The plant, which has manufactured tomato paste and Ragu and Bertolli sauces since 1974, will stop production by June 30, 2006, according to the Netherlands-based corporation.
The plant employs 124 full-time workers and 228 seasonal employees during the summer harvest season.
"We will do everything we can to place them with other Unilever sites," Operations Manager Larry Pitts said.
Unilever will move tomato paste production to its Stockton location and sauce production to its Owensboro, Ky., facility.
Company officials called the closure a "necessary step in the business' strategy to attain greater operating efficiencies to become more competitive in the marketplace."
"It's a business consolidation issue," said Pitts. "We have excess capacity in other plants. It's not a reflection on the quality of the work force here, it's strictly a consolidation strategy."
Jobs at the plant pay from $11 to $24 per hour and include a "good benefits package," according to Pitts.
Plant workers are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 948 union.
Company officials said they are in the process of negotiating a severance package for displaced workers with union representatives.
The Ashby Road plant operates 24 hours a day, processing 250 tons of tomatoes every hour.
Growers from Fresno to Woodland sell their tomatoes to the plant.
This is the time of year when tomato farmers finalize contracts with processors, according to Merced County Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Dan Ciskowski, so growers could still find alternate buyers for next year's crop.
"It does have an impact, but the impact is in scrambling to find a home for the commodity," Ciskowski said. "If that doesn't happen, then growers might look for another crop that they can grow."
Cotton and alfalfa are crops that have the same soil and water requirements as tomatoes and could easily replace tomatoes, according to Ciskowski.
Tomatoes were the fifth most valuable crop in Merced County last year, earning $105 million for area growers.
"It's very shocking and disappointing," said Merced County Farm Bureau Executive Director Diana Westmoreland Pedrozo. "I'm wondering what the reasons are.
"It's very disappointing when you close a facility that has such easy access to local growers. The longer they have to travel, the more it affects air quality, roads and infrastructure."
Westmoreland Pedrozo said Unilever has been a generous supporter of community organizations like Future Farmers of America and 4-H Club.
"The plant has played a huge role in the community and we're very proud of that," Pitts said. "Closing the plant is very disappointing for all of us.
"We're all Merced residents and it's a real disappointment."
About Unilever
Unilever has operations in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Turkey, Asia and the South Pacific. It was incorporated in 1927 and is based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
In the United States, Unilever brands include Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Hellmann's, Lipton, Knorr, Popsicle, Promise, Q-Tips, Ragu, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Snuggle, Suave and Vaseline.
Unilever has 230,000 employees in almost 100 countries and generated annual sales of $50 billion in 2004. Unilever in the United States employs more than 15,000 people in 74 office and manufacturing sites in 24 states and Puerto Rico, generating approximately $10 billion in sales in 2004.
My favorite Tomato sauce in the supermarkets is Barilla Mushroom and Garlic sauce.
I think Ragu is the best sauce made.
His start up kitchen was in his garage. Made the sauce in a bathtub that was wood fired.
His Son now owns Prego Sauces.
Ragu isn't too bad if you dress it up with lots of extra natural ingredients.
Not ragu, but I know what's for supper!
I buy Barilla pasta. Being half Italian, from the old country, I make my own sauce.
No uppity college student would stoop so low as to use Ragu. They'd stick with ramen noodles mixed with tuna fish.
Close the doors and have the sauce made in China.
W's fault.
From my name you can tell I married into an ITALIAN family that knows thier "GRAVY" When my mother-in-law could not make her own Gravy, due to time constraints then she swore by RAGU TRADITIONAL as being the next best thing. Of course she added a little more garlic, olive oil etc.... but she ALWAYS had a jar of RAGU TRADITIONAL on hand....just in case.
So now I also do the same cuz we all know, ITALIAN MOMS/MOTHER IN LAWS know BEST.....!!!!
To each his own.
"I always make my own sauce. Tasted bought sauce once and thought it was a dose."
Fresh skinned Roma tomatoes finely chopped, two cloves of garlic, a sprig of fresh basil, and olive oil.
How hard is that and that's just a simple pesto.
Canned sauce is just an excuse to eat corn starch. Which turns pasta into goo.
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