Eskimo Pie To Cut Jobs in Restructure, May Ally With Yogen Fruz Yet.

Eskimo Pie Corp., one of America's oldest ice cream companies, said it would cut some jobs under an aggressive restructuring plan and it is still exploring options with Canadian rival Yogen Fruz, whose unwanted courtship it has twice rebuffed.

The restructuring plan includes the selling of its plants and cutting of as many as 85 jobs. The Richmond, Va.-based plant employs 150 people. Eskimo Pie wants to move out of making ingredients for ice cream bars and frozen desserts and into licensing its brand name. The company also said it would focus on its core Eskimo Pie brand, the chocolate-covered ice cream bar it introduced in 1921. Eskimo Pie also markets a variety of frozen novelties, ice cream and sorbet, and has agreements to sell products under the Real Fruit, Welch's, Weight Watchers, SnackWell and Orco brands.

Eskimo Pie's announcement of a growth and restructuring plan comes at a time when its income has been decreasing. And, this is not the first time the ice cream maker has had to downsize. In 1997, Eskimo Pie closed one of four plants in a consolidation move that included reviewing licensing contracts to focus on more profitable lines.

Eskimo Pie said it ended talks to be acquired by Yogen Fruz World-Wide, Inc., the largest franchiser of frozenyogurt stores, and will instead focus on licensing its brand name.

Last November, Yogen Fruz, a Toronto-based company that franchises such chains as I Can't Believe It's Yogurt, Bresler's and Swensen's Ice Cream, tried to take over Eskimo Pie with an unsolicited offer that was rejected. A month later, Yogen Fruz sweetened the bid, but Eskimo Pie would still not agree. Nevertheless, Eskimo Pie said it still might allow Yogen Fruz the rights to exploit some of its brand names in markets, such as in Canada and Europe.

Eskimo Pie and Yogen Fruz are almost evenly matched in sales. Eskimo Pie had 1998 sales of $63.5 million, while Yogen Fruz had 1998 sales of $60.2 million.