Candy maker Ferrara plans to close a factory on Chicago’s west side next spring, company officials said this week.
The maker of Nerds, SweeTarts and Brach’s candies — a subsidiary of fellow confectionary company Ferrero — indicated that it would shutter the facility in the city’s Little Village neighborhood in April. The closure would result in 154 layoffs, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Ferrara officials reportedly cited “market conditions and our long-term innovation road map;” it will relocate the plant’s production to other manufacturing facilities. It operates three other plants in suburban Chicago and another in nearby DeKalb.
Ferrara, the Sun-Times noted, traces its roots to a west side bakery founded in 1908. The company previously closed a Wisconsin Jelly Belly plant in 2024 — shortly after it acquired the jellybean brand.
