Schumer Announces 'The Deal Is Sealed' as Beech-Nut and The Usda Find Solution so Canajoharie Plant Can Operate at Full Throttle

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Schumer Announces 'The Deal Is Sealed' as Beech-Nut and The Usda Find Solution so Canajoharie Plant Can Operate at Full Throttle

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that Beech-Nut's Canajoharie plant and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have figured out a solution that provides the plant with adequate federal food inspection levels, allowing it to operate at maximum capacity and continue to fuel the local economy. For months, production capacity at the plant, which recently announced a significant expansion and new locale, was jeopardized by changes in the USDA food inspection procedures that threatened Beech-Nut's unique production line.

However, after weeks of negotiations between the plant, the USDA and Schumer's office, Under Secretary Dr. Richard Raymond proposed that Beech-Nut print the USDA inspection stamp on the baby food jar lids, rather than on the paper label. Since the lid is affixed early in the production process when the USDA inspectors are present, the plant will now be freed to do the paper labeling and packaging later in the day. Today Schumer and Beech-Nut hailed the final agreement.

"After months of negotiations, today I'm proud to announce that we're out of the woods and the deal is sealed," said Senator Schumer. "All parties came together to hammer out a plan that is a win-win for the Mohawk Valley by allowing Beech-Nut to not only protect its current workforce but also expand its operations and power the region's economy with good paying jobs. The USDA really came through here. Dr. Raymond visited the plant last month and come up with a true ‘out-of-the-box' solution."

The process by which Beech-Nut produces its meat-based baby food must be monitored by USDA inspectors. However, USDA recently decided to eliminate all "minimal" and "limited" inspection services leaving Beech Nut with only one full time inspector and no additional coverage, which could curtail the plant's current operations and plans for future growth.

Beech-Nut's rigorous baby food production schedule, including preparing, cooking, cooling and packaging it in a sanitary fashion, requires two full time inspector-shifts or other equivalent staffing arrangements. Before the recent reduction of inspection services, the Canajoharie plant received inspection over the course of their 20-hour production schedule. The USDA did this by combining a single full-time inspector shift with a combination of overtime and "limited coverage." The current arrangement has left them with a single inspector, creating inefficiencies and forcing Beech-Nut to drastically alter how their products are made.

Today Schumer announced a plan had been reached between Beech-Nut and the USDA that will give the plant the necessary inspection levels so it can operate at full capacity. Under Secretary Raymond proposed that Beech-Nut print the USDA inspection stamp on the baby food jar lids, rather than on the paper label. Since the lid is affixed early in the production process when the USDA inspectors are present, the plant will now be freed to do the paper labeling and packaging later in the day

However, now that the seal will be affixed to the lids during an earlier time of the day, it will eliminate the need for an additional inspection shift and will maximize the productivity of current inspectors.

In August, following months of Schumer pressuring the USDA to assign an additional food inspector to Beech-Nut's plant, the Under Secretary of the USDA visited the plan for a firsthand look and the agency assigned a temporary inspection shift so that the plant could operate at full capacity while final negotiations were completed.

In May, Schumer had sent a letter pressuring USDA to assign a second full-time inspection shift to the Canajoharie plant. This lead to the Under Secretary for Food Safety, Dr. Richard Raymond, visited the plant to personally assess the situation on August 8th.

Beech Nut has been an economic lynchpin for Montgomery County and the entire Mohawk Valley Region since 1891. Two months ago, Beech-Nut announced it will build a 650,000 square-foot processing and packaging plant in Florida, Montgomery County, N.Y., and relocate its corporate headquarters from St. Louis to the new building. It also announced its intention to add an additional 135 jobs to the 356 who are currently employed at their facility. Over the last several years its production has increased by nearly 50%, and in the next several years it is hoping to increase its production by an additional 25%, which could create additional jobs and millions of new investment in the region.

Schumer has long been instrumental in Beech-Nut's success in upstate New York. In the summer of 2006, Schumer worked with Empire State Development Corporation and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to construct an incentives package to save Beech-Nut's Canajoharie plant after it suffered severe flood damage. In February 2000, H.J. Heinz, Inc. and Beech-Nut's then parent company, Minot Holding Corporation, announced a planned merger which threatened operations at both the Canajoharie and Fort Plain production plants. Schumer intervened with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and asked it to delay approving the merger until Heinz completed its review of the local plants. One week later, the FTC began its ultimately successful effort to block the merger. In the winter of 2002, Schumer also helped launch a new product line, called First Advantage, at the Canajoharie Plant.

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