Kraft Foods Inc.: The Northfield, Ill.-based food...

Kraft Foods Inc.: The Northfield, Ill.-based food producer said it will close its Buena Park marshmallow plant and lay off 355 employees as part of the planned sale of the company’s $150-million marshmallow and caramel business in North America. Kraft said the plant on Artesia Boulevard will continue operating for an unspecified “transition period” following the completion of the sale to an investment group consisting of Texas Pacific Group of Ft. Worth, Tex., and InterWest Partners of Menlo Park. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dennis Nemeth, vice president of manufacturing for the Kraft Foods Enhancers Division, said that when the sale is complete and marshmallow production ends, “closing [the plant] is unavoidable because there is excess capacity in our manufacturing system.” Full-time plant employees will receive up to six months of company-paid medical coverage plus an undisclosed amount of severance pay, said officials at Kraft, a subsidiary of Philip Morris Companies Inc. The 480,000-square-foot plant, which also produces barbecue sauce and salad dressings, began operating in 1958.