The Del Monte Foods plant in Hanford will be shutting its doors in the coming months.
Del Monte sent a letter to the Kings County Board of Supervisors this week informing the county that the facility will be shutting down in late March.
The big picture: Per the letter, 378 employees will be losing their jobs at the plant, starting on March 28.
- The letter was a formal notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires employers to provide 60 days’ notice before mass layoffs.
Driving the news: Reports first surfaced last month that the food company was planning to sell its Hanford tomato plant.
- The Teamsters Union expected at the time that 400 to 500 full-time employees would be laid off by Del Monte.
- The Hanford Sentinel reported that Del Monte has a high debt load and is undergoing restructuring.
Zoom out: Del Monte operates 10 food processing plants in the U.S. and Mexico. None of the other plants are shutting down.