Cookie sales up, Mondelez prepares Philadelphia workers for cookie factory closure

The same day (November 6) Mondelez announced continued growth in North American biscuit sales, workers at the company’s Philadelphia biscuit factory were summonsed to a surprise meeting and essentially told to prepare for closure, with the loss of up to 375 jobs.

Local union president John Lazar told reporters  “It was more or less a prepared statement that they read from. Usually when they have a town hall meeting its planned weeks in advance. This one here was the day before; was rumored, then they pulled us in and told us about it.”

“U.S. biscuits continued to perform well with revenues up at least 5% for the ninth consecutive quarter,” Dave Brearton, chief financial officer, said in a Nov. 6 conference call with analysts. “Most of this growth was due to volume/mix, behind strong execution by our direct-store delivery sales force. Oreo was up double digits in the quarter and year-to-date on the strength of base s.k.u.s (stock-keeping units) as well as innovations such as Birthday Cake and Mega Stuf. U.S. biscuits continued to gain market share as well, up 100 basis points in Q3 and 110 points year-to-date.”