OAK BROOK, ILL. — TreeHouse Foods, Inc. has announced plans to close a snack food manufacturing facility in Visalia, Calif., by the end of the first quarter of 2019. The plant produces pretzels and cereal snack mixes for the company’s baked foods segment. Pretzel production will be moved to other TreeHouse facilities prior to the closing. 

Approximately 294 employees will be affected. The plant closing is part of the company’s previously announced TreeHouse 2020 multi-year restructuring program. The plan is designed to reduce costs with an eye toward improving profitability.

Costs associated with the closing are expected to be approximately $21 million, of which approximately $8 million is expected to be in cash. Components of the charges include non-cash asset write-offs of approximately $13 million, employee-related costs of approximately $3 million, and other closing costs of approximately $5 million. The company expects to incur charges of approximately 28c per diluted share in 2018.