Only six employees at the Minute Maid facility in Peterborough, Ont., have been permanently laid off as the company winds down its frozen juice production — a significant reduction from the dozens of job losses initially expected.
In July 2025, parent company Coca-Cola Canada announced it would be ending production of all frozen juice at the Peterborough facility by early 2026, citing “shifting consumer preferences.”
The union representing 80 workers at the plant had initially projected that up to half the workforce on the production line would be laid off.
However, on Wednesday, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 175 president Kelly Tosato said negotiations were able to drastically reduce the impact of the job cuts to just six. The agreement would also provide “enhanced” severance packages for those affected.
No job transfers will occur, ensuring all employees remain in Peterborough, the union notes.
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“The union worked to ensure that our members were treated fairly and supported throughout the layoff process,” Tosato stated. “We worked with the employer to apply provisions of the collective agreement and negotiated enhanced protections for the remaining employees affected by this layoff.”
The update came as Coca-Cola also announced Wednesday that it is discontinuing all of its frozen juice concentrate products, impacting Canadians and American markets. The products were first introduced in 1946.
Minute Maid’s frozen juice products will remain on shelves until April.
“We are discontinuing our frozen products and exiting the frozen can category in response to shifting consumer preferences,” a company statement reads. “With the juice category growing strongly, we’re focusing on products that better match what our consumers want.”
Debora De Angelis, UFCW’s director of political action, says the union won’t comment on the company’s business decision.
“Our primary goal is to make sure employees are treated fairly during this process,” she said. “And to make sure that there was lessened impact to the community of Peterborough.”
The union and Coca-Cola note that other Minute Maid products will continue to be produced at the Peterborough plant, which expanded in 2020 with the opening of an $85-million facility to produce Fairlife ultra-filtered milk.
“The great news here is we get to keep great, union jobs in Peterborough,” De Angelis said. “And we continue to manufacture good Canadian products.”
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