HP Hood to Close Booth Bros. Dairy Plant in April

Dairy manufacturer HP Hood has confirmed it plans to close the Booth Bros. manufacturing plant in Barre in April. The Booth Bros. facility, which bottles different milk varieties, has been operating in Barre since 1946 and was sold to Hood in 1997. Approximately 50 employees will be affected by the closure, Hood spokesperson Lynne Bohan said in an email. Hood decided on the closure after a review of the company’s milk operations in the Northeast, Bohan said. "Hood carefully reviewed each of its fluid plant’s geographic locations, current production capacity, as well as rising infrastructure costs," she said.

The company is planning to provide severance packages and outplacement assistance to the affected employees, Bohan said. She added that Hood is working to transition the manufacturing in Barre to other Hood plants. The company has 11 other plants listed on its website, located in New England, New York, Virginia and California. The company also still plans to manufacture Booth Bros.-branded products and sell them in Vermont, Bohan said.