Frito-Lay has been making salty snacks at its Rancho Cucamonga facility in California since 1970. It's the birthplace of the Flamin' Hot Cheeto, allegedly.
PepsiCo Foods U.S. this morning confirmed to Food Manufacturing that the company will shut down manufacturing operations at the Rancho Cucamonga site. However, the warehouse, distribution, fleet and transportation teams will continue to operate at the location. Still, hundreds of workers will be impacted.
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"We are truly grateful for all the support over the last five decades from our Rancho Cucamonga manufacturing team as well as the local community," PepsiCo said. The company is offering pay and benefits to employees, but it stopped short of providing specifics. According to workers who posted on social media, they received 10 weeks' pay as severance.
The Frito-Lay closure was not included in the California Employment Development Department's list of WARN notices, so the company hadn't yet filed one with the state.
In April, PepsiCo lowered earnings expectations for 2025 due to "elevated levels of volatility and uncertainty," particularly increased tariff costs and a drop in consumer spending. The company acknowledged that years of significant price increases and changing tastes had weakened demand for its snacks and drinks.
PepsiCo tried to turn the consumer spending tide last year by publicly reversing its "shrinkflation" practices. The company started adding more chips to each bag and boosting the size of variety packs, but it looks like it wasn't enough to halt the decline.
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