Lipton to Close New Jersey Facility

Lipton (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.) has announced plans to close a manufacturing and distribution facility in Flemington, N.J.

The location, which employs 575 people, manufactures various dry mix products such as soups, seasonings and side dishes and serves as the center of distribution for Lipton products.

Lipton officials have concluded that the plant is oversized and cannot be efficiently redesigned to meet current and anticipated needs.

"In no way are we exiting these dry mix businesses," the company said. "This decision relates only to the production of the products."

Production and distribution will be phased out over several months beginning in April and completed no later than the end of December 1998.

The company said it will negotiate with third-party manufacturers to produce the dry mix products currently made at Flemington and that an independently operated distribution center will be established elsewhere in the Northeast.

Lipton, an operating unit of Unilever and part of its North American Foods Business Group, was created in 1996 when Unilever merged Thomas J. Lipton and Van den Bergh Foods, both U.S. operations.

Unilever is a consumer product company with annual sales exceeding $50 billion. It produces and markets foods, home and personal care products.