Unilever to Close Manufacturing Plant in Peterborough, Ontario

TORONTO , Oct. 15 /CNW/ - Unilever Canada announced today that the company will close its manufacturing facility in Peterborough, Ontario. The Peterborough facility manufactures Ready-To-Serve soups and tomato sauces. The closure is a result of Unilever Canada's decision to exit the aseptic Ready-To-Serve (RTS) soups business in 2010.

The closure, to be completed by the end of Q1 2010, will result in the loss of approximately 40 jobs. Employees will be eligible for severance packages, employee assistance counseling and transition services.

Remaining production from Peterborough will be transferred to another Unilever site and a third-party co-maker.

Unilever Canada , a subsidiary of Rotterdam-NL and London-UK based Unilever, is a diversified consumer products company with sales in 2008 of $1.4 billion . The company employs 1800 people across Canada .

For further information: Sean McPhee, On behalf of Unilever Canada, [phone]