Quaker to Close Rice Cake Plant

The Quaker Oats Co. (Chicago) announced today that it will close its Asheville, NC, rice cakes manufacturing plant Apr. 30, 1999, and shift production to another U.S plant located in Columbia, MO.

"This is a total business decision," Gregg Tanner, VP—Manufacturing and Supply Chain Integration. "With existing capacity available at another Quaker snack plant that has a more strategic geographic location for central distribution, this consolidation of production capacity is the right—but difficult—decision to make."

The 143 employees in Asheville received notification about the plant closing. Quaker has owned a plant in the Asheville area since 1985 when it acquired Arden Organics. Today, the facility solely produces rice cakes.