Roberts Dairy in Iowa City cuts workforce by 25 percent

The Roberts Dairy Plant located at 1123 Dodge Street Court in Iowa City will reduce its workforce by 25 percent, or about 25 of its 90 employees.

Workers at the Iowa City Roberts Dairy plant say they found out about the cutback on Friday.

One employee claims the job cuts are needed because because Walmart has named Minnesota-based dairy Dean's Food as its exclusive provider of dairy products. Robert Dairy spokeswoman Sarah Lake issued a statement that said, “layoffs are due to business transitions."

Lake also reaffirmed that “Roberts Dairy still plans to have a strong presence in the local community and doesn't foresee any additional layoffs.” She continued, “Roberts Dairy encourages consumers to buy from their local dairy, as this helps the economy by keeping people employed locally.”

The dates of the layoffs are still being determined; however, they will be staggered and won't start for a couple of weeks.

The dairy says its customers will not see a difference in the availability or quality of Roberts' fresh dairy products.