Utz Brands Closes Alabama Facility, Announces Layoffs

Utz Brands, which makes chips, cheese balls, pretzels, and other snacks, is permanently closing its manufacturing facility in Birmingham, AL, laying off 175 workers.

The facility will close on or around July 3 as part of “the company’s dedication to network optimization and cost containment,” the snack maker said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The facility employs about 275 individuals. While manufacturing operations are being shuttered, Utz said approximately 100 employees will continue working in Birmingham in its distribution center.

Utz Brands includes Zapps, Golden Flake, On the Border, Dirty, TGI Fridays, Boulder Canyon, Bachman, Hawaiian Brand, and more.

The snack brand purchased filled pretzel brand H.K. Anderson from Conagra Brands and added Festida Foods, the largest manufacturer of tortilla chips for the company’s On The Border brand, which has created a top tier position in the snacking space.

It certainly isn't the first food brand to announce layoffs in recent months.

In March, Tyson Foods announced layoffs at two plants in Arkansas and Virginia, which together employ 1,600 people. the meat packing company also just announced corporate layoffs last week. Earlier this year, Eat Just, Impossible Foods, and McCormick also announced cut staffs.