Smith’s Snackfood Company will shut its Smith’s Chips factory in Canning Vale next year and, as a result, 300 workers will lose their jobs.
The West Australian reports that the company told workers the news at a meeting yesterday at 8am.
The job losses, which will be staggered until the factory closes for good late next year, will come from a range of roles including factory and administrative roles.
“Following a strategic review of its manufacturing operations across Australia, The Smith’s Snackfood Company has announced its intention to close its manufacturing facility at Canning Vale in Western Australia,” a Smith’s spokeswoman said in a statement.
“This difficult decision was made with careful consideration, and The Smiths Snackfood Company will provide outplacement services and redundancy support to affected employees.”
The closure will not affect the company’s operations in the Eastern states.
The closure will also affect the Western Australian potato growers who currently supply the Canning Vale factory with about 12,000 tonnes of potatoes per year.
One such grower, Gary Bendotti of Bendotti Exporters told the ABC he had been supplying Smith’s for decades and the closure will hit his company hard.
Another grower, Manjimup Shire president Wade DeCampo told the ABC, "Smith's has been going through an Australia-wide review and Smith's is owned by Pepsico, which as we all know is a multinational in America and they take no prisoners unfortunately, and today we are being cut loose."