RICHMOND — A company that is the nation’s largest provider of meal kits has decided to permanently close its Richmond plant in a shutdown that will eliminate more than 600 jobs.
HelloFresh, which delivers meal kits that can be quickly prepared and cooked by the consumer of the food, will shut its plant in Richmond, effective on Dec. 11 of this year.
The plant was also the location of a failed unionization effort in December 2021 and a coronavirus outbreak in the summer of 2020 that sickened 171 workers who stated that social distancing was difficult due to the plant’s cramped conditions.
Germany-based HelloFresh, the largest meal-kit service provider in the United States, notified state labor officials in a WARN notice that the company had decided to close the plant and jettison 611 jobs.
“This letter serves to regretfully advise the California Employment Development Department that Grocery Delivery E-Services USA, doing business as HelloFresh, will be undergoing a plant closure at its Richmond facility,” Ana Garcia, senior vice president people with HelloFresh USA, stated in the WARN letter.
The largest job category affected by the WARN notice was listed as a production associate. An estimated 389 production associate jobs were eliminated.
“The plant closure will be permanent,” HelloFresh stated in the WARN notice. The company added, “The affected employees do not have bumping rights and are not represented by a union.”
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