It’s been a sad day in Canada’s ketchup town…although no doubt some corporate titan in a head office far away was just putting his wingtips up and blowing smoke rings on his fat cigar over this:
In Leamington, Ont., a town synonymous with tomatoes and ketchup, Heinz Canada announced Thursday it is closing its century-old plant, throwing 740 people out of work.
Company officials called employees to a meeting Thursday afternoon, where they were told that the last production run of giant plant, which makes everything from ketchup to condiments and baby food to tomato juice, would be in mid-year 2014.
The move comes just months after Heinz was taken private by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital in a $23.3 billion deal.
So much for Warren Buffett’s name being synonymous with social conscience. Capitalists know no such thing. Heinz is not a struggling corporation; this was purely a profit move, and should be punished accordingly.
Good thing I’m not a ketchup person; boycotting won’t pain me in the least. Pass the poutine, and for you good folks in Leamington…good night, and good luck.
