WK Kellogg has reneged its decision to move cereal production from a US facility in Michigan to Canada, retaining around 170 jobs which were to be cut.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) said the project is expected to generate a “total capital investment of at least $44m” and create at least 43 jobs on top of the retained 170.

The MEDC added that the Michigan Business Development Program will support the project with a $5m “performance-based grant”.

In 2021, WK Kellogg (formerly known as Kellogg Co.), announced that by the end of 2023 it would move production of some of its Battle Creek, Michigan cereal plant volume to its cereal production facility in Ontario, Canada.

However, the group has since decided to retain that volume at its Battle Creek facility, where it will “drive efficiency through investment in more modern technology”, according to the MEDC.

WK Kellogg said in a statement: “While the shift in production from Battle Creek to Belleville, Ontario is reversed, WK Kellogg Co will use both plants to meet the needs of the business and will continue to assess what production could be shifted to Belleville in the future.”

“We are pleased to maintain cereal production in Battle Creek, the Michigan community where it all began more than a century ago and where it begins again with WK Kellogg Co,” said WK Kellogg co-chairman and CEO, Gary Pilnick.

“We are proud to be doing so in partnership with our employees and their union, along with the support of Battle Creek Unlimited, the city of Battle Creek and the state of Michigan.”

The company employs approximately 750 employees in Michigan and will continue to be headquartered in Battle Creek, where it has spent the past 117 years as Kellogg, before it split into three companies last year.

The Special K brand owner said it sees margin expansion as key to the strategies of the new businesses set to come into force by the end of the year.