Ferrara Candy Co. will shutter its Little Village manufacturing plant and lay off more than 150 employees in April.
The company announced plans to close its 31st Street facility in April 2027, citing “market conditions and our long-term innovation road map.”
Officials notified 154 employees and the state last week and said they plan to shift production to other facilities. The plant is at 2945 W. 31st St.
“Ferrara is deeply grateful to Chicago’s Little Village community for years of partnership and neighborly collaboration,” the company said in a statement.
Ferrara, whose brands include SweeTARTS, Brach’s and Nerds, began as a bakery in Little Italy in 1908 and has operated in Chicago for nearly 120 years.
The confectioner was acquired by Ferrero in 2017 but remains a privately held company under common ownership. Ferrara operates three other Chicago-area manufacturing facilities — in Bellwood, Forest Park and Itasca — and a fourth in DeKalb.
Ferrara said employees can continue working at the plant until it closes. Workers also have the opportunity to apply for open positions across Ferrara and its affiliate network.
The company said it will provide severance benefits and outplacement services to help affected employees find new jobs.
Employees were told of the planned closure last week, in compliance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, Ferrara said.
The Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires businesses with 75 or more employees to provide workers and the state with at least 60 days’ notice before plant closures or mass layoffs.
It’s not the first time Ferrara has closed a manufacturing plant.
In 2024, the company closed its Jelly Belly plant in North Chicago, laying off 66 employees less than a year after acquiring family-owned Jelly Belly for an undisclosed amount.
That same year, Blommer Chocolate Co. announced it would close its West Town factory, cutting 250 jobs, due to increasing costs of running the aging facility at 600 W. Kinzie St., cutting 250 jobs.