Dive Brief:
- White Castle will lay off nearly 100 workers as it closes two facilities — a meat plant in Indiana and a retail food plant in Kentucky, the company said in an email to Manufacturing Dive.
- Both facility closures are set for early to mid-October. Fifty-nine employees will be let go in Covington, Kentucky, while 38 employees will be laid off in Lebanon, Indiana, according to the state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notices.
- Production will be shifted to other existing White Castle plants, and employees will be offered ongoing employment with White Castle in other parts of the business if they are interested.
Dive Insight:
The layoffs are part of the Ohio-based fast food chain’s plan to streamline manufacturing.
“White Castle is consolidating its manufacturing efforts to continue its focus on sustainable growth offering value and affordable food to its customers everywhere,” the company said in a statement.
The restaurant chain added a second shift to a facility in Zanesville, Ohio, to accommodate the production change, White Castle said. The fast food chained owned three processing plants, including two in Ohio, as part of a strategy to maintain operational control of its meat supply.
“For us, it was really looking and assessing what the demand was going to be for the foreseeable future, and how to really get the most efficient cost,” White Castle VP of Marketing and Public Relations Jamie Richardson said in a recent interview with NBC4 Columbus. “At the same time, being there for the 10,000 team members who really rely on us as responsible citizens to make good decisions for the health of the business.”
At the Covington plant, all positions will be eliminated on Nov. 22. White Castle said employees who remain “in good standing through their separation date” will be eligible for a completion bonus. Supervisory employees will be offered severance packages.
White Castle has nine manufacturing plants nationwide, according to its website.
Meanwhile, on the retail side of the business, White Castle is expanding. In January, the fast food chain opened its third Arizona location in Goodyear, creating 50 jobs. The company also completed an expansion of its Vandalia, Ohio, retail food products plant for $27 million in 2022, doubling its slider capacity.