50 food and beverage plants have closed or set a closing date in 2026. Moving the work to other plants is the most common reason given.

50 food and beverage plants have closed or set a closing date in 2026. Moving the work to other plants is the most common reason given.

Food and drink makers have closed or set a closing date for 50 plants in 25 states this year, from Tyson's beef plant in Lexington, NE in January to the Safeway bread plant in Richmond, CA, which closes Dec. 30. Forty have already closed. Ten more close by the end of December. Thirty-four of the 50 have a source that gives a reason, and 14 of those say the company is moving the work to its other plants. Job cuts across the industry are measured separately, and they count jobs, not plants: food producers announced 29,693 job cuts through September, a 76% increase from the same period in 2025, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as reported by Food Dive.

What is closing

Beef, hit by the cattle shortage. Tyson Foods closed three beef plants this year. Lexington, NE, with about 3,200 jobs, closed around Jan. 20. In Dawson County, NE, unemployment went from 3.4% in January to an estimated 16.9% in February, KSNB reported. Joslin, IL closed on Aug. 13 and 14, with about 2,500 jobs. Eagle Mountain, UT, 723 jobs, closed by Oct. 12. "The closure is due to a historic cattle shortage affecting the meat industry," KSL reported. Cargill closed its Milwaukee, WI beef plant by May 31 (221 jobs), and Skylark Meats closed its Omaha, NE plant on Aug. 25 (218 jobs).

Bread and baked goods. Schwebel Baking, a Youngstown, OH bakery for more than 120 years, wound down its Youngstown and Hebron, OH bakeries after the Fourth of July weekend and is liquidating. Hope Baking in Hope, AR closed July 25, with about 250 jobs, after it could not get financing. Safeway's Richmond, CA bread plant closes Dec. 30, with 92 jobs; Safeway gave no reason. Panera closed fresh-dough plants in Franklin, MA and West Chester, OH (May 22) as it moves to outside bakers. "Panera intends to close its Fresh Dough Facility in Franklin on March 27 as the company implements a new bakery operating model, according to a state notice," the Boston Herald reported.

Dairy. Dairy Farmers of America closed the Guida's plant in New Britain, CT by Aug. 31 (205 jobs). Franklin Foods' Enosburg Falls, VT cream cheese plant closed in August, because its German owner, Hochland, "is getting out of the cream cheese business in the United States," Vermont Public reported. Prairie Farms closed both of its Shullsburg, WI plants by Aug. 14. Foremost Farms closes its Marshfield, WI cheese plant on or around Dec. 15, and Maola closes its North Laurel, MD milk plant by Dec. 31.

Snacks, one owner in three states. Our Home, which owns Popchips and Pop Secret, closed its Las Vegas, NV plant on Aug. 25 (61 jobs). Its Powered by FTGU unit closes plants in Lititz, PA on Dec. 14 (67 jobs) and Conover, NC by Dec. 16 (93 jobs). Our Home also closed a chip plant in Berlin, PA early this year, Food Processing reported, with no month given. Neither notice for Lititz or Conover gives a reason. Shearer's Foods closed its Bristol, VA snack plant in September, and Campbell's closed the Cape Cod chips plant in Hyannis, MA in April.

Drinks. Anheuser-Busch's Newark, NJ brewery was set to close in January, ABC7 reported. The company said "we decided to sell our Newark, NJ facility to the Goodman Group," which will turn it into a manufacturing and logistics site. Brewing ends there, so we count it as a closure. Anheuser-Busch also closed its Fairfield, CA brewery on Feb. 22. PepsiCo shut production at its Cheverly, MD bottling plant on Sept. 14, with 143 jobs. It was the town's biggest employer, the Washington Post reported. PepsiCo also closed its bottling plant in Knoxville, TN in October, with 112 jobs. "The plant closed immediately, though employees will be paid through Jan. 1, according to a PepsiCo statement Monday," Food Dive reported on Oct. 20. Coca-Cola closes its Northampton, MA bottling plant on Dec. 15 (175 jobs). Refresco closed beverage plants in Walla Walla, WA (June 12) and Carlisle, OH (July 11).

Why they are closing

Of the 50 plants, 34 have a source that gives a reason. We count each plant under one reason.

Moving the work. This is the most common reason. Smithfield, closing its Springfield, MA dry sausage plant in September, said: "Production will be transferred to other Smithfield packaged meats facilities." Rise Baking said it "will consolidate its manufacturing footprint," closing Kent, WA in August as a newer plant opens in Utah. Crunch Pak's Selah, WA plant closed because of "increased capabilities of the company's facilities in Cashmere, Wash.," Capital Press reported. Coca-Cola (Northampton, MA), Danone (Bridgeton, NJ) and Roskam Foods (San Dimas, CA) gave the same kind of reason.

Costs and finances. For beef, the cost is cattle. Tyson moved its beef work to three plants, citing "the historic cattle shortages." A University of Wisconsin-River Falls economist told the Midwest Farm Report the U.S. cattle herd is the smallest it has been in about 75 years. Intermountain Packing in Idaho Falls, ID closed suddenly in early April. A former employee told EastIdahoNews that workers received a letter "referencing ongoing challenges receiving and processing cattle." Outside meat, Hope Baking said it was "unable to secure the financing and resources necessary to continue operating this facility." Schwebel's board acted after "considering the company's financial condition."

Sale, restructuring or network changes. Del Monte's Modesto and Hughson, CA canneries closed in April during its bankruptcy, after no buyer came forward for the Modesto plant. Niagara Bottling is closing a Plymouth, MI water plant it got from Absopure, citing "company reorganization." Three more companies said their plans or their networks had changed, without saying the work moves to another plant. PepsiCo said of Cheverly: "As consumer demand, technology and our operating network continue to evolve, we must continue optimizing and modernizing our network to best serve customers and consumers." Maola said of North Laurel: "This step reflects how our processing network and milk supply needs have evolved over time." Knouse Foods said closing its Chambersburg, PA plant will help it "become more focused, reduce complexity, and better invest in its operations," ABC27 reported. Food Dive described the wider pattern this way: "Many companies say the closures are needed to simplify operations and better focus on areas ripe for growth."

Demand. Shearer's said production at Bristol "has declined due to changing customer demand." Idahoan Foods closed its Rupert, ID plant, which ran through June 26, based on "long-term demand forecasts." Tyson's Rome, GA plant made granola bars for one customer, and "recent changes have made continued operations at the site no longer viable." Cargill said it closed Milwaukee "to better align our portfolio with current customer demand."

What sits behind the demand reasons. This is context, not our count. Food Dive tied this year's cuts to "declining consumer spending and a shift in eating habits." In the Washington Post's Cheverly story, an Upjohn Institute economist said companies like PepsiCo face poor demand "amid guidance to stay away from sugary foods and drinks."

When they close

California has the most, with 7. Massachusetts, Ohio and Washington have 4 each. Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have 3 each.

Our factory page follows plants of every kind whose closing date is still ahead. The Asset Sale Calendar lists plants closing in the next two weeks.

Churn or trend?

There are two answers, and they come from different sources.

Job cuts are measured, but not by us. Challenger, Gray & Christmas counts announced job cuts. Food Dive reported its numbers: "Food producers have slashed a total of 29,693 jobs as of September, according to executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. This marks a 76% increase from the 16,835 cuts announced for the same time period in 2025." That figure counts jobs, not plants. It includes layoffs at plants that stay open, and it is Challenger's figure, not ours.

Our plant list is a repeating pattern, not a measured trend. Fifty closings in 25 states, with the same few reasons given again and again, is a clear pattern. But we have not counted food plant closings for 2025 on the same rules, so we cannot say 2026 is above a normal year. What our list does show is the shape of the cuts. The most common reason given is not leaving a market. It is running the same products through fewer plants. The exception is beef, where companies are closing plants because there are fewer cattle to process.

What we counted, and what we left out

We count food and beverage production sites: meat, dairy, bakery, snack, cannery and bottling plants and production breweries of national brands. Each plant is counted once per company, city and state. Two Prairie Farms plants in Shullsburg, WI count as one. A plant is counted when a source states a 2026 closing day or month, and when the source shows the plant is closing, not just cutting jobs. A layoff date alone does not count as a closing date. A plant with no stated month is left out, even if it closed this year.

We read every record by hand. We did not trust the industry label on a record without reading its text, and that label put several restaurants on the plant list. Our first query found about 107 sites in 34 states. Most of the difference is not plant closings. It is restaurants and bakery-cafes, warehouses and distribution centers, pet food plants, farms, closings from 2024 and 2025, and duplicates.

Left out on purpose:

• Plants with a 2027 date, not counted. Nestlé plans to close its Solon, OH factory "by the end of 2027," moving production to South Carolina, Cleveland 13 reported. Campbell's Jeffersonville, IN plant has a Jan. 31, 2027 date. Neither is in our 50.
• Plants idled, not closed. Dairy Farmers of America idled its St. Albans, VT milk plant in August, but agreed in court to leave the plant intact while a dispute is settled, VTDigger reported.
• Plants with only a layoff date. A notice that gives only the day jobs end does not tell us when the plant closes.
• Plants that are not fully closing. JBS ended beef slaughter at Souderton, PA on Aug. 14, but kept about 400 jobs in packaging (see our JBS page). Pilgrim's is closing harvesting in Chattanooga, TN but keeping deboning there. Plants that are only cutting jobs are left out too.
• Plants sold to buyers who keep running them.
• Breweries and wineries. Taprooms and craft brewers, including Guinness in Halethorpe, MD and Stone Brewing in Escondido, CA, are on our brewery page. Wineries are on our winery page.
• Pet food plants, farms, warehouses and distribution centers.

What we cannot see. Small plants close without a news story, and a company that doesn't have to file a WARN notice may never announce a date. Our list is a floor, not a total. Records come from state WARN notices, company statements and local and trade news reporting. This is a living page. As plants get dates, they join the count and the changelog will record it.

Updated: October 26, 2026

Changelog: October 26, 2026: first published with 50 plants in 25 states, from the 2026-10-24 edition.

The Store Closure Watch file for the week of October 24, 2026 holds 351 records. As of October 26, 2026.