Dive Brief:
- ConAgra says it will close two popcorn plants in Ohio and fire 170 workers.
- The plants, located near each other in the towns of Marion and Morral, manufacture Orville Redenbacher microwave popcorn.
- The closures come less than a year after ConAgra slashed its workforce by a third at a Nebraska facility that makes the Fiddle Faddle and Crunch n' Munch brands of boxed popcorn.
Dive Insight:
People don't eat popcorn like they once did. Just like they don't eat canned pasta or frozen meals like they did in the 1970s and '80s. And as we've noted before, no other company is "still as tied to the eating habits of aging baby boomers as is" ConAgra.
Given that, it seems likely there will lots of plant closures like the two in Ohio in ConAgra's future. In the meantime, and on a brighter note, ConAgra appears to be shifting what remains of its popcorn production to Nebraska and adding some jobs there.