Scotsburn Ice Cream closing Saint John plant

Saint John's old popsicle plant is shutting down, as Scotsburn Ice Cream Company announced Wednesday it's closing the manufacturing facility on City Road near Harbour Station.

The closure will happen in September of 2016, and will affect 27 full time, and 16 part-time employees who work at the plant.

The company says they can apply for jobs at other Scotsburn facilities. Production will be transferred to its other locations.

The Saint John plant opened at its current location in 1971 and has been owned by Scotsburn since 2001.

"This was a difficult decision for our company to make, but we will do everything we can to treat our employees in Saint John fairly and provide them with the support they need," said Doug Ettinger, Chief Executive Officer of Scotsburn, in a statement.

Describing the Canadian ice cream industry as very competitive, the company said there was tremendous pressure to reduce costs and become more efficient.