Nestlé will close its Solon factory and move production to Gaffney, South Carolina, a Nestlé USA spokesperson confirmed Monday.
The spokesperson attributed the closure plans to an "effort to best serve consumers and optimize our network."
It's unclear how many jobs will be impacted by the closure. Employees will receive separation packages and "transition support," and will be encouraged to apply at the brand's other Ohio locations, the spokesperson said. Purina PetCare, which is owned by Nestlé, opened a pet food factory in Batavia outside Cincinnati this year.
Nestlé has seven Ohio facilities that employ nearly 3,000 people, according to the spokesperson, who added, "We will continue to maintain a strong presence in the state as we focus on serving customers and consumers now and into the future."
Nestlé has had a presence in Solon for nearly 60 years and bought Cleveland-based Stouffer's in 1973, which brought the city's campus under the Nestlé name.
More than 200 Nestlé workers were laid off from the Solon manufacturing site in 2024. In November 2023, the company also announced plans to lay off 77 employees from its Solon headquarters, according to the Akron-Beacon Journal.
Nestlé opened its Research & Development Center, which will remain operational, in Solon in 2015. The $50 million, two-year project features a 144,000-square-foot facility focused on frozen and chilled foods. At that time, Nestlé said it employed more than 2,200 in the Cleveland area.
This story will be updated.
