Nestle to close Chatsworth Hot Pockets plant, cutting 360 jobs

Nestle USA will close its Chatsworth Hot Pockets plant, eliminating 360 jobs.

The Glendale food giant said it is consolidating frozen food production into one plant in Mt. Sterling, Ky.

The employees in Chatsworth can apply for other positions at the company, spokeswoman Roz O’Hearn said on Wednesday. Departing employees will receive severance and outplacement benefits.

The consolidation allows Nestle to be more efficient in making and shipping the frozen sandwiches to vendors and customers, chief technical officer Martial Genthon said in a statement on Friday.

The Chatsworth facility didn’t allow for future expansion, given its placement in a crowded industrial park, O’Hearn said.

“We are surrounded on all sides by other businesses,” she said.

The company said it’s investing $13 million in the Kentucky plant, which already produces Hot Pockets. It is also hiring 150 new workers there as it shifts operations to a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week schedule.

The Chatsworth plant has made Hot Pockets since 1988 and production will cease in early October, Nestle said.

Employment has shrunk in recent years. Nestle laid off more than 100 workers there in 2012 amid static sales.

Nestle has not yet decided what to do with the Chatsworth plant, which it owns, O’Hearn said.

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