Special Project Costs

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2023

Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]

Note 2: Special Project Costs

Special project costs primarily consist of employee-related costs and other transition and termination costs related to approved restructuring activities. Employee-related costs include severance, retention bonuses, and relocation costs. Severance costs and retention bonuses are recognized over the estimated future service period of the impacted employees, and relocation costs are expensed as incurred. Other transition and termination costs include fixed asset-related charges, contract and lease termination costs, professional fees, and other miscellaneous expenditures associated with the restructuring activities. With the exception of accelerated depreciation, these costs are expensed as incurred. These restructuring costs are reported in cost of products sold and other special project costs in the Statements of Consolidated Income and are not allocated to segment profit. The obligation related to employee separation costs is included in other current liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

A restructuring program was approved by the Board during 2021, associated with opportunities identified to reduce our overall cost structure, optimize our organizational design, and support our portfolio reshape. This is inclusive of certain restructuring costs associated with the divestitures of the Crisco, Natural Balance, private label dry pet food, and natural beverage and grains businesses. For additional information related to the divestitures, see Note 3: Divestitures.

During 2021, we substantially completed an organizational redesign related to our corporate headquarters and announced plans to close our Suffolk, Virginia facility as a result of a new strategic partnership for the production of our liquid coffee products. During 2022, we completed the transition of production to JDE Peet’s, and expanded the restructuring program to include certain costs associated with the divestitures of the private label dry pet food and natural beverage and grains businesses, as well as the closure of our Ripon, Wisconsin production facility to further optimize operations for our U.S. Retail Consumer Foods business. We completed the closure of the Ripon facility during 2023, as planned, and the remaining restructuring activities were completed as of April 30, 2023. The costs incurred associated with these restructuring activities include other transition and termination costs associated with our cost reduction and margin management initiatives, inclusive of accelerated depreciation, as well as employee-related costs.

The following table summarizes our restructuring costs incurred related to the restructuring program.


	2023		2022		2021		Total Costs Incurred to Date at April 30, 2023
Employee-related costs	$	3.5	$	6.3	$	17.3	$	27.1
Other transition and termination costs	7.6		22.2		6.8		36.6
Total restructuring costs	$	11.1	$	28.5	$	24.1	$	63.7

The obligation related to severance costs and retention bonuses was $1.6 and $2.4 at April 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and is expected to be settled in the first quarter of 2024. As of April 30, 2023, cumulative noncash charges incurred to date were $33.2, including $10.2, $18.6, and $4.4 incurred during 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, and primarily consisted of accelerated depreciation.