Mondelez In Early Talks To Close Fair Lawn Plant In 2021

FAIR LAWN, NJ — Fair Lawn is one of the world's largest producers of Oreo cookies, but that could soon be changing.

Mondelez, which owns brands like Oreo, Toblerone chocolate and Trident gum, is in the early stages of considering a closure of the Fair Lawn bakery manufacturing plant on Route 208 by the middle of 2021.

News of the closure came as a surprise to local and state officials, who quickly voiced concern.

"The Nabisco plant has been a staple in Fair Lawn for decades, the smell of fresh baked cookies is part of Fair Lawn," said Mayor Kurt Peluso, who, along with Rep. Josh Gottheimer, met with Mondelez management and union representatives on Monday, he added.

Losing the plant would mean more than just waking up to new smells in the morning for Fair Lawn, which, with the departure of the bakery, could lose up to 600 jobs in the community.

"The closing of this facility would have a devastating impact on 600 hardworking men and women and their families right here in North Jersey — workers who may no longer be able to put food on their tables in the midst of a global pandemic," said Gottheimer.

On a Tuesday phone call, a company spokesperson reiterated that, despite Gottheimer's statements that workers could lose their jobs within the next few months, the company has made no official decision, and doesn't expect changes to be made before the middle of 2021.

Still, news of a closure is the opposite of what residents wanted to hear, with the New Jersey economy already facing the ramifications of the coronavirus.

According to the Department of Labor, approximately 1.78 million people have applied for unemployment since mid-March, though claims have fallen in four straight weeks.

Gottheimer said there are concerns that the company may be closing U.S. factories in Fair Lawn and Atlanta to move those jobs to Mexico.

Though that wouldn't be an unprecedented move from Mondelez — in 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported that roughly half of the 1,200 workers at the company's Chicago locations were laid off, with some jobs moving to Mexico — the company said no jobs would be leaving the U.S. market.

"The Company remains committed to U.S. manufacturing and, if the closures were to proceed, no U.S. jobs would go to Mexico and current U.S. biscuit production levels would be maintained," the company said, in a statement.

A move out of Fair Lawn and Atlanta, the company said, would be part of a strategic consolidation of markets.

"The Company is considering changes to evolve its U.S. biscuit manufacturing footprint by focusing on strategically-located bakery locations on the East Coast, Midwest and West Coast of the United States – in Richmond, VA, Chicago/Naperville, IL, and Portland, OR," they said.

Fair Lawn and Atlanta, the company said, are "no longer strategic assets from a geographic footprint perspective."

The Fair Lawn facility opened in 1958 and, the company said, faces operational challenges due to aging infrastructure and outdated production capabilities. Rather than spend the "significant" investment to update these facilities, the company believes resources are better spent elsewhere.

"Given our understanding of demand and consumption patterns, we need to focus and allocate our resources to those sites and capabilities that are best able to meet our future needs," said Executive Vice President and North American President Glen Walter.

"If we move forward with the decision being considered, we recognize it would unfortunately impact employees who work in our Fair Lawn and Atlanta bakeries. We do not take this lightly and are committed to supporting them through the potential transition."

The company currently employs about 2,100 people in New Jersey. According to a company spokesperson, 1,500 are employed outside the facility in Fair Lawn, and would not be impacted by the closure.