SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (AP) – Ellsworth Ice Cream has laid off 40 workers at its Vermont plant.

The company, based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., said that most of the employees at the Springfield plant had been laid off but would not comment further.

Plant manager Michael Ziemba also refused to discuss the layoffs.

The cuts are the third round of layoffs at the ice cream plant this year. The company laid off about 22 employees in February and 22 in November.

The November cuts were blamed on a decrease in demand for ice cream in the winter months, said company Vice President Trish Wielt.

Ellsworth Ice Cream owes the town about $100,000 in taxes, said Springfield Town Manager Bob Forguites.

The family-owned company, founded in Saratoga Springs in 1933, expanded into the site of the former Ben & Jerry’s factory in North Springfield in 2003.

The company makes novelty ice cream and ice-pop products for wholesalers from Maine to Florida.

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Information from: Rutland Herald, http://www.rutlandherald.com/