By From staff reports
Copyright stltoday
General Mills is closing a St. Charles pizza crust manufacturing facility in a cost-cutting move, one of three Missouri plant closures announced in a company filing Wednesday.
The Minnesota-based company is also closing two Joplin pet food plants. All three were acquired in recent years and all will close early next summer.
General Mills said in a filing that the move is intended to “increase the competitiveness of our supply chain.”
The St. Charles plant was acquired when General Mills bought TNT Crust in 2022. The Joplin plants were acquired with the 2024 purchase of Whitebridge Pet Brands.
TNT, acquired for $250 million, had been a star performer for the company, with General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening saying in June 2023 it was “growing quite nicely.” But he hasn’t mentioned the business’ performance on quarterly calls in the years since.
The $1.45 billion Whitebridge acquisition brought the Tiki Pets and Cloud Star brands to General Mills, which also owns pet food brands Blue Buffalo and Edgard & Cooper.
The Tiki Cats line is seeing double-digit growth, said Dana McNabb, president of the North America retail and North America pet divisions at General Mills.
“These big businesses are working really well for us,” she told analysts last month.
Yet the company’s pet sales overall have struggled to recapture the growth seen during the pandemic-era pet adoption boom. Analysts expect the pet food business to be a major driver for General Mills in the years to come, and the consolidation is part of that plan.
The Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.
