US private-label manufacturer TreeHouse Foods is to shed around 150 jobs, including the role of chief commercial officer.
The pretzels and stock maker said yesterday (10 April) the cuts reflect “planned actions to drive greater operational efficiency.”
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The company did not specify where the 150 job cuts will occur.
Through the move, TreeHouse Foods is aiming to realise “significant cost-savings”, while improving profitability, cash flow and service levels.
Scott Tassani, the company’s business president and chief commercial officer, will step down from his role from 30 May. The group will subsequently eliminate this position.
Beyond the reorganisation, TreeHouse Foods is to bring in “additional margin management and cost control initiatives”.
As of 31 December, the company had around 7,400 full-time employees – 6,000 based in the US and 1,400 in Canada.
TreeHouse Foods chairman, CEO and president Steve Oakland said: “We continue to see significant opportunity to improve our execution and consistency, positioning us to better serve our customers while driving improved profitability.
“On our fourth quarter 2024 earnings call, we outlined additional supply chain and overall cost savings plans, and the actions we are announcing today follow through on those plans.”
“We are streamlining our organisational and cost structures, which we believe will enable us to sharpen our competitiveness in what remains a dynamic consumer environment. We continue to focus on better positioning the company to drive improved financial performance and value creation for our shareholders.”
In the earnings call in February, Oakland said TreeHouse Foods had “meaningful margin-expansion opportunity”.
“We have been implementing near-term strategies to enhance value that are within our control. These include several efficiency opportunities across our supply chain and our overall cost structure that should drive improvement in the near term,” he said.
“As we head into 2025, we are focused on strengthening the foundation of our supply chain and margin management initiatives, restoring production levels in key categories, and pursuing profitable new business.”
Despite the planned reductions, the company “reaffirmed” its 2025 financial guidance.
Its forecast for adjusted annual net sales remains between $3.34bn and $3.40bn, with adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations in the range of $345m to $375m.
For the fiscal first quarter of 2025, TreeHouse projects adjusted net sales of at least $792m and adjusted EBITDA of at least $52m.
The company said about 5% of its 2024 net sales was driven by customers outside of the US, with nearly all stemming from Canada.
In 2024, net sales totalled $3.35bn, representing a 2.3% decline compared to 2023 due to “targeted commodity-driven pricing adjustments in select categories”, the company said.
Net income dropped by 49.3% to $26.9m, while adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was down 7.8% to $337.4m.
Meanwhile, in October, TreeHouse expanded a product recall to include “all products” manufactured at one Ontario, Canada facility due to potential listeria contamination.
