Dive Brief:
- Deli meats manufacturer Land O'Frost will lay off 215 workers when it shutters its plant in Pullman, Illinois, according to a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed on April 29.
- The plant produces specialty meats for one of its brands, DaBecca Natural Foods, which Land O’Frost acquired in 2022. The job cuts are scheduled to start June 17, according to the notice.
- Production will move to other locations in the company’s U.S. manufacturing network, a Land O’Frost spokesperson told Manufacturing Dive in an email.
Dive Insight:
The company did not specify the reason behind the closure, but noted impacted employees will receive comprehensive severance packages with benefits.
“This was an incredibly difficult decision to make due to its impact on a group of dedicated team members and one we put much thought into. We are confident that consolidating operations will enhance our ability to serve our customers effectively and to our standard of excellence,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Land O'Frost is headquartered in Munster, Indiana, and employs about 1,500 people, according to its website.
The family-owned company operates another Illinois plant in Lansing, also in the Chicago area, as well as factories in Madisonville, Kentucky, and Searcy, Arkansas, according to its LinkedIn.
Land O’Frost is among several food manufacturers closing plants and reducing headcounts this year. In April, Conagra Brands announced plans to close its Wisconsin Birds Eye plant and lay off 252 people.
That same month Del Monte Foods said it will shutter two plants to “align and streamline operational capacity with consumer demand.” And meat giant Tyson Foods is laying off 1,276 manufacturing jobs at a pork plant in Iowa — its eighth facility closure since the start of 2023.
