Dive Brief:
- Nestle USA will close a plant in Chatsworth, CA, that has made Hot Pockets sandwiches since 1988. As many as 360 jobs will be lost.
- Nestle, which acquired the brand in 2002, says production of Hot Pockets and Lean Pockets will be consolidated at its facility in Mount Sterling, KY. That plant will invest $13 million to move to 24/7 production and add roughly 150 workers.
- The move comes two and a half years after Nestle shuttered Hot Pockets headquarters in Colorado and shifted the executive team to Ohio.
Dive Insight:
As bad as this news may be for the workers in California, it must come as very good news in Kentucky .... and not just because of the 150 new jobs.
Nestle has said repeatedly that it intends to sell off underperforming brands. And sure, Nestle's decision to consolidate operations may be part of an effort to pretty up the Hot Pockets brand for such a sale. But the factory consolidation can also be viewed as a vote of confidence by Nestle, and proof that Hot Pockets is not on the get-rid-of-it list.
