PLANT CLOSURE

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A company that makes items such as Nestle Crunch ice-cream bars and Eskimo Pies is expected to close in November, leaving more than 300 employees out of work.

Merritt Foods Inc., a novelty ice-cream manufacturer, will close Nov. 29, company officials said.

General manager Mike Dwyer said the company ceased production last week and officials planned to meet with employees the rest of this week.

Jeff Carrel, president of Teamsters Local 552, said officials with Morningstar Group Inc., owner of Merritt Foods, told the union Friday that the company was closing the plant for economic reasons.

Plant workers will receive severance packages, Carrel said.

The company was started in 1950 as Southern Ice Cream by James S. Merritt.