Del Monte sets March date to shutter tomato plant

Hundreds of union employees will be out of their agriculture-based jobs in Hanford.

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. 

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