The bakeries to close include a 77-year-old Wonder/Hostess bakery and a 49-year-old Parisian San Francisco bakery. The company said distribution of branded products to supermarkets in the Northern California profit center will be unaffected by the closings.

These closings arrive on the heels of the company's announcements that bakeries in its Florida, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast profit centers will close. Since filing for bankruptcy protection in September, the company has closed six bakeries and consolidated many routes, depots and thrift stores.

"In order to ensure a long and successful future for IBC and to save as many jobs as possible, the company must continue to make these difficult decisions," Tony Alvarez, IBC's interim chief executive officer, said. "We will make every reasonable effort to make this transition as smooth as possible."

The company expects to incur about $13.5 million in charges in connection with the Northern California profit center consolidation, including about $6 million in severance charges, about $2.5 million in asset impairment charges and about $5 million in other charges. The company estimates that about $11 million of such costs will result in future cash expenditures. In addition, the company intends to spend about $3 million in capital expenditures and accrued expenses to enact the consolidation.

In other news, IBC expanded its Baker's Inn™ brand with four new varieties: Nine Grain, Stone Ground Whole Wheat with Extra Fiber, Crunchy Honey Oat, and Cinnamon Wheat. The Baker's Inn™ brand recently was named a top 10 "brand to watch" by Information Resources Inc. in its New Product Pacesetters report.