Eight months after PepsiCo relegated a longtime Frito-Lay plant in Southern California to a distribution hub, the food and beverage giant is now reportedly closing the campus entirely — and laying off hundreds of workers.
Frito-Lay halted snacks production at the Rancho Cucamonga plant last summer — one of several closures across the country as PepsiCo dealt with sluggish demand and rising costs — but left its warehouse and distribution operations in place.
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Earlier this month, however, the company informed California officials that it would close the warehouse in June and lay off 247 workers, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Frito-Lay officials told the Times that the company would shift those operations to “a new distribution center in the local community” in an effort to “better serve our customers.” The paper noted that Frito-Lay operates additional distribution facilities closer to Los Angeles in Torrance and La Mirada, California.
PepsiCo last year also closed facilities in central Florida and upstate New York. The company has highlighted efforts to cut prices and reduce its product offerings of late as demand flags — and amid a recent agreement with an activist investor.
The Rancho Cucamonga plant, which began operations in 1970, was a major employer in the San Bernardino County city for decades — and was also purportedly the origin of the popular “Flamin’ Hot” variety of Cheetos in the early 1990s.
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