020343 Kraft to Cut 7,500 JobsMarch 18, 2002Northfield, IL - Foods giant Kraft Foods Inc. said its continuing integration of Nabisco Holdings Corp. will result in the closure of 16 plants worldwide and the loss of 7,500 jobs. Some of the cuts and closures were announced previously, and Kraft expects the rest to be "substantially" completed by the end of the year, company spokeswoman Kathy Knuth said. Knuth said some cuts and closures were completed in 2001, but declined to say how many remained. The job cuts come from plant closures, a voluntary retirement program and a consolidation of operations in several areas, she said. Northfield-based Kraft, the world's second-largest food company, completed its acquisition of Nabisco in December 2000 and is absorbing its operations. The plant closures will require total cash payments of $373 million, of which about $74 million has been spent through Dec. 31, Kraft said in its Form 10K annual report, filed late Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "The Nabisco employees are included in the 7,500 as well," Knuth said. "The balance of the positions have come from the integrations." As of Dec. 31, Kraft had a total of 114,000 employees worldwide, compared with 117,000 a year earlier. Knuth refused to say how many employees would be left when the cuts were completed. The plant closures are in Brampton, Ontario; Holland, Mich.; Wrightstown, Wis.; Cambridge, Md.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Henderson, Nev.; and in the countries of Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Taiwan and China. Kraft, a unit of Philip Morris, closed at $37.65 a share Friday, up 50 cents. Kraft's top-selling products include Maxwell House coffee, Post cereals, Ritz crackers, Oscar Mayer meats and Kraft and Velveeta cheese.
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