Tyson Foods Inc. closing Jefferson, Chicago plants

The Springdale, Ark. company said the closing was part of a move that also includes shutting down a plant in Chicago where 480 people work.

The company said the closings will enable it to use available production capacity at a few of its other, more modern prepared foods facilities. Tyson Foods referred to it as “part of efforts to improve the overall performance of its prepared foods business”. It now produces sliced ham and pepperoni for pizza toppings and sliced pepperoni and salami for delicatessens. This plant was involved in the production of ready to eat food for hospitality industry.

Two factors have played a role in the closure of these facilities. Institutional Investors own 72.62% of Tyson Foods, Inc. shares.

Changing product needs, the age of both facilities and prohibitive cost of renovations as well as the distance of the Chicago plant from its raw material supply base were cited as reasons for the closure by the company. No other facilities in Chicago are affected by this announcement, the company said.

“We examined many options before we turned down this road“, said Donnie King, president of North American operations. Being aware of the fact that the decision would affect the lives of their team members and their families made it extremely hard to take the decision. Tyson Foods Inc. announced Thursday it will discontinue operations at its pepperoni plant in Jefferson in mid-2016.

In the most recent quarters, growth in revenue in its division of prepared foods has led the top-line growth of the company, primarily due to its acquisition of Hillshire.

Last month, Tyson announced that it would raise the per hour wages for 34,000 employees in its chicken plants in the U.S.to attract and retain is workers.

Tyson stock price has gained 11% in market value in the current year so far. On October 23, 2015 The shares registered one year high of $47.71 and one year low was seen on March 13, 2015 at $37.1.