Frito-Lay Shutters Storied California Plant, 480 Jobs Affected

PepsiCo announced plans to shutter its Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., production facility, which produces products for the conglomerate’s Frito-Lay snack division. The plant has been operational for over 50 years, and the closure will result in layoffs affecting about 480 employees.

While snack production will cease, likely in the coming months, the company has shared that the site’s warehouse, distribution, fleet and transportation teams will continue to operate. PepsiCo has not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice at the time of publication, which must be filed at least 60 days before a planned plant closure that will result in layoffs.

This is the second Frito-Lay facility closure PepsiCo has announced this year. It said in February that it would also close a New York state facility that produces PopCorners and employs 287 individuals. The company also cut 56 jobs at a Maryland warehouse facility earlier this year.

Those infrastructure shifts come as the company has reported a drop in snack volume sales with CEO Ramon Laguarta stating during a first-quarter earnings call in April that the company was working to “right-size” its snack business so that it is in line with production demands. Frito-Lay currently operates over 30 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., per its website.

However, the Rancho Cucamonga facility is one of the company’s most well-known production sites, as it once employed Richard Montañez, who claims to have invented the company’s Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while working as a janitor.

Frito-Lay and PepsiCo have both disputed Montañez’s claim. The 2023 movie “Flamin’ Hot” is loosely based on his claims. Nevertheless, Montañez rose up the ranks at the conglomerate, eventually serving as a marketing executive.

PepsiCo is not alone in right-sizing its production footprint. Food and beverage conglomerates including Conagra, Post Holdings, J.M. Smucker, Hormel, General Mills and WK Kellogg, among others, have shuttered production facilities to better align with product demands over the past two years.