Burgers’ Smokehouse closes its doors

DESLOGE — Burgers’ Smokehouse announced Thursday that it is shutting down its Desloge facility. The closure will affect about 29 employees from the local plant. The company is headquartered in California, Mo.

A downturn in the economy is blamed for the closure.

“Current economic conditions left us with more production capability than the company needs,” said Steven Burger. “This is truly a sad day for us. The facility in Desloge has been a critical part of our operation for the last eight and a half years.”

The last day of operation for the facility was Wednesday. The Desloge plant opened in 2000. It was located at the facility which previously housed the horse slaughter plant. Burger said his company does not own the property and that it was leasing it.

He said all of the employees at the facility will be offered severance packages and relocation packages to the California facility. Burger did not know how many employees would take the relocation option.

“Our human resource people are going to meet with the employees in Desloge on Friday (Feb. 6),” he said. “It’s too early to tell how many are willing to relocate.”

Burgers’ Smokehouse is a nationally known processor of cured and smoked meat products. The slicing and packaging operations that were previously performed in Desloge will now be performed in California.

Chris Cline is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at 573-431-2010, ext. 114 or at ccline@dailyjournalonline.com.