Ferrara closing Little Village candy plant, laying off 154 workers

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Ferrara, the century-old Chicago confectioner behind Lemonhead, Nerds and other sugary candies, is shuttering its Little Village factory and laying off 154 employees in April.

The company notified the state and employees last week of the impending closure, with plans to move the manufacturing, and perhaps some of the impacted workers, to other Ferrara facilities.

“The decision to close our 31st Street plant takes into account market conditions and our long-term innovation roadmap,” Ferrara said in a statement Tuesday. “Our 31st Street colleagues are invited to remain with Ferrara through the plant’s final day of production in April 2027.

Founded in Chicago’s Little Italy in 1908, Ferrara was acquired by Italian candy giant Ferrero in 2017, but remains a privately held company under common ownership. In 2019, Ferrara moved its corporate headquarters from Oakbrook Terrace to the Old Post Office downtown, where it has about 600 employees.

Illinois remains the center of manufacturing operations with facilities in Itasca, Bellwood, Forest Park and a $100 million DeKalb packaging and distribution center, which opened in 2021. Ferrara has nearly 3,000 employees nationwide, the company said.

The Ferrara candy portfolio also includes Sweetarts, Trolli, Laffy Taffy, Red Hots and Jelly Belly, which it acquired in 2023. In 2024, Ferrara closed the North Chicago Jelly Belly factory and moved all production to a Fairfield, California plant.

The low-slung, 251,000-square-foot brick building on West 31st Street in Little Village was added to the Ferrara manufacturing operations in 2019, when the company acquired Kellogg Co.’s Fruity Snacks business. The plant makes Funables Fruity Snacks and Stretch Island Fruit Strips, among other candies, with production set to shift to other facilities in the Ferrara manufacturing network after it closes, the company said.

“The 31st Street facility has not been operating at full capacity for several years,” the company said. “As part of our ongoing evaluation of our manufacturing network, we determined that production can be shifted to other Ferrara facilities to better align our capacity with demand.”

As to the 154 employees being laid off at the Little Village candy plant, their fate is less clear.

Ferrara notified the state and the employees of the plant closing last Thursday in compliance  with the WARN Act, the company said.

The Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires businesses with 75 or more employees to give workers and the state 60 days advance notice of plant closures or mass layoffs.

The workers being laid off will “have the opportunity to apply for open positions across Ferrara and our affiliate network,” the company told the Tribune. In addition, eligible employees will receive severance benefits and outplacement services to support their search for a new job.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com