BATTLE CREEK, MICH. — Kellogg Co. earlier this month announced it will be eliminating 212 jobs at its Porter Street ready-to-eat cereal plant in Battle Creek. The job cuts will take place over the next two years and are part of the company’s efforts to streamline its RTE cereal production across North America.

“Kellogg Co. is committed to improving our North American cereal business and positioning our Americas RTEC network for long-term success,” said Kris Bahner, a spokesperson for Kellogg. “As such, we are implementing a robust commercial strategy that includes brand-building investments, capacity and capability investments at some of our RTEC plants, as well as ongoing innovation plans and we are seeing early signs of improvement.

“In our ongoing analysis of our RTEC network, it’s clear that some locations are more cost-effective and better performing than others. We must ensure we have the right capacity in the right locations to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and become more competitive. After very careful consideration and detailed analysis, we have presented a planned reallocation of cereal production across our RTEC Americas network. If these plans are finalized, they will deliver significant savings that could be reinvested into the business to drive growth and help to regain share. These plans build on the streamlining efforts announced in 2017, some of which were previously completed.

“While this is the right thing to do for the business, any decision that impacts people is incredibly difficult. We are committed to helping our talented and dedicated employees, and we are devoted to working with them and their union to ensure they have outplacement assistance, resources and support through this transition.”

The Kellogg Porter Street plant has 390 employees. The company cut 223 jobs at the plant in 2018.