Nearly 60 employees will lose their jobs when a Polk County manufacturing facility closes one department in the coming months, according to a letter filed with state officials.
Mizkan America, a company that makes liquid condiments and owns brands like Ragu and Bertolli, plans to wind down operations of the bottling department at its Lake Alfred plant and lay off 57 workers on or around Sept. 19, says its letter, posted Friday to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification website maintained by the Florida Department of Commerce.
The plant in Polk County, located at 445 N. Dakota, is one of 13 plants in the United States overseen by Mizkan America. It is the only one in Florida. Others are in California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin…