N.Y. bakery operations moving to Biddeford

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Interstate Bakeries Corp. is closing a bakery in Buffalo, N.Y., and eliminating 200 jobs in its latest effort to turn around soft sales.

Production will be shifted to Biddeford and other plants.

This is the second plant closing announced in the last two months by the Kansas City-based maker of Wonderbread and Hostess sweet goods. In July, the company said it would close a bakery in Monroe, La., on Sept. 17, eliminating 50 jobs.

Company officials said the Buffalo plant, built in 1923, makes bread and rolls under the Wonder, Home Pride and Beefsteak brands, as well as Hostess doughnuts. The plant will close Oct. 23, and production will be shifted to plants in Biddeford as well as in Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in New York.

IBC said it expects the Buffalo and Monroe closings to cost between $7.7 million and $9.6 million, part of which will be taken in the current fiscal quarter.

The country’s largest wholesale baker is struggling to streamline its production amid falling sales, which the company blames on diets high in proteins and low in carbohydrates.