The production facility employs 124 full-time and 47 part-time employees in St. John's, and has been owned by Scotsburn since 1988, manufacturing private-label ice cream and frozen novelties.
The closing is the second the company has made in 2016, following the shutdown of its plant in Saint John, New Brunswick, in February, which employed 27 full-time and 16 part-time employees.
New leadership
“This was another difficult decision for our company to make, but we will treat our St. John’s employees fairly,” Scotsburn vice president and CEO Jeff Burrows said in a press release this week.
Burrows was appointed to the role of vice president and CEO of Scotsburn in July 2016, replacing former CEO Doug Ettinger who left the company to “pursue a new opportunity outside of Atlantic Canada,” the company said.
As head of Scotsburn Ice Cream, Burrows said, “Scotsburn is now an organization that’s focused on becoming a leader in value-added ice cream and novelty products across Canada and the US.”
‘Under tremendous pressure’
Burrows said in order for the company to continue to provide quality ice cream and frozen dessert products to its customers in the Atlantic Canada region, where it was first founded in 1900, a number of difficult cost-cutting initiatives had to be made.
“Scotsburn is under tremendous pressure to reduce costs and become more efficient, as our ice cream industry is very competitive. We compete with two large multinationals and several national and regional manufacturers, while also dealing with a highly consolidated retail grocery business,” he said.
Scotsburn’s ice cream production will be transferred to the company’s other locations in Truro, Nova Scotia, and Lachute, Québec.
It has not been disclosed how the plant closure will affect the company’s co-manufacturing agreement with Yasso frozen Greek yogurt bars, which are made at the Scotsburn’s St. John's location and exported to the US market.