Post Holdings to Close Cereal-Manufacturing Facility in Ohio

By Will Feuer

Post Holdings, the consumer-packaged goods maker known for brands like Honey Bunches of Oats and Grape Nuts cereals, has announced plans to shutter its cereal-manufacturing facility in Lancaster, Ohio. This decision comes as the company seeks to scale back production capacity.

The closure of the Lancaster plant is expected to take place by the end of September next year, affecting approximately 200 employees. Post Holdings has been engaged in discussions with the union regarding this matter.

Acquired through the company’s recent $85 million deal to purchase TreeHouse Foods’ ready-to-eat cereals business in 2021, the closure of the facility will incur pretax charges of approximately $49 million to $55 million for Post Holdings. However, through this strategic move, the company anticipates annual cost savings of about $23 million to $25 million starting in fiscal 2025.

In addition to the cost savings, Post Holdings expects to allocate about $20 million to capital expenditures tied to the closure. This is on top of the company’s projected capital expenditure range of $400 million to $425 million for the current fiscal year, which commenced in early October.