$1B frozen food giant pulls plug on California manufacturing in shock retreat

A billion-dollar organic-food powerhouse is pulling back from California manufacturing, shutting down its original Santa Rosa factory and eliminating 260 jobs in a sweeping production shake-up.

The family-owned company, which racks up roughly $1 billion in annual retail sales of its products, plans to wind down the Santa Rosa operation in phases before shifting production to plants in Medford, Oregon, and Pocatello, Idaho.

“This is hard, and it should be hard,” CEO Paul Schiefer said in a statement to SFGATE. “We looked at every alternative before landing here. We have a loyal workforce in Santa Rosa, and we’re incredibly grateful for everything they’ve contributed.”

The company says the restructuring is aimed at reorganizing its manufacturing network so individual facilities can concentrate on the product categories where they are strongest.

Employees affected by the Santa Rosa closure will receive separation packages, job-placement assistance and counseling services, according to the company.

The retreat is striking given the brand’s muscle in the organic-food aisle.

Shoppers spend about $1 billion a year on its products at retail checkouts, producing roughly $600 million in gross sales for the company itself.

Market intelligence firm SPINS ranks the brand No. 1 across several organic categories.

Its retail sales data gives the company an 89.09% dollar share of Organic Frozen Pizza and a 73.80% share of Organic Frozen Burritos and Pockets.

SPINS also ranks it first in Organic Frozen Entrees and Organic Ready-to-Eat Soups.

Now, however, the company is ending its food-production footprint in California.

Its corporate headquarters will remain in downtown Petaluma, where the family-owned business was founded in 1987.

But the Santa Rosa plant is being shuttered, with layoffs expected to begin late this year and another round scheduled for next summer.

The manufacturing cuts extend to Idaho as well.

The company plans to permanently lay off dozens of workers at its Pocatello canning plant by the end of the year, according to a WARN notice filed with the Idaho Department of Labor Thursday.

The notice says affected employees are expected to be separated from the company effective Dec. 18.

The listed cuts include 14 Cook II positions, 14 Manufacturing Operator I jobs, five Manufacturing Operator II positions and five Manufacturing Operator IV positions, along with several other classifications whose employee counts were not legible in records reviewed by The Idaho State Journal.

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