Campbell Soup Co. today announced the closing of its south Sacramento plant, where the company has made canned soup for more than 60 years.

The plant will be phased out, with final shutdown coming next July. It will eliminate 700 full-time jobs, a devastating development in one of the region's most hardscrabble neighborhoods. The plant's workers, who are members of the Teamsters union, earn as much as $20 an hour, said Troy Givans, interim economic development manager for Sacramento County.

"They were very good jobs, they're very important jobs in the community in south Sacramento, and in the region," Givans said.  The company said it plans to shift most of Sacramento's production to Campbell's remaining plants in Maxton, N.C.; Napoleon, Ohio; and Paris, Texas.