TreeHouse Foods is swinging the axe in South Beloit, cutting hundreds of jobs and shutting down its long‑running cookie plant as the company remakes itself under new owners. The Oak Brook private‑label manufacturer says the move will wipe out the remaining production roles at the facility, the latest and harshest step in a series of reductions. Workers and local officials warn that the closure will leave a noticeable hole in the stateline manufacturing economy.
As reported by Crain’s Chicago Business, TreeHouse notified the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity on Feb. 13 that a new round of layoffs would begin April 17 and that it planned to let go of the remaining 168 employees at the South Beloit site. According to that report, the move brings TreeHouse’s recent cuts to roughly 447 positions when combined with earlier staff reductions. The WARN notice referenced in the coverage also states that there are no bumping rights for affected workers.
Take‑private deal closed Feb. 11
TreeHouse had just wrapped up its previously announced sale to Investindustrial, a deal the company valued at $2.9 billion in total enterprise value, according to a Form 8‑K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The same filing lays out the new debt package used to finance the buyout and notes that TreeHouse was delisted from the NYSE when the merger officially closed on Feb. 11, 2026.
Financial strain and earlier cuts
The shake‑up follows a rough financial stretch. TreeHouse reported net sales of $840.3 million but a GAAP net loss of $265.8 million in the third quarter of 2025, driven largely by a $289.7 million goodwill impairment, according to its November earnings release. Management had already started trimming costs, announcing in April that roughly 150 corporate jobs would be cut as part of an efficiency plan. A previous WARN filing detailed about 129 layoffs at the South Beloit warehouse in 2025. Taken together, those steps paved the way for the full plant shutdown that is now underway.
Legal questions: WARN Act…