A snack manufacturing plant in Conover will shut its doors Dec. 16, 2026, eliminating 93 jobs at the facility located roughly 50 miles north of Charlotte. The closure, confirmed in a state WARN filing, affects Powered by FTGU LLC, the company behind the Real Food From The Ground Up snack brand, at its plant on Somerset Drive NW in Catawba County.
The WARN notice was filed Oct. 19 and became publicly available Thursday, Oct. 22, according to the Charlotte Observer. Federal law generally requires employers to provide advance written notice of mass layoffs and plant closings of this size, and the U.S. Department of Labor states that covered employers must give at least 60 calendar days' notice under the WARN Act.
Real Food From The Ground Up markets itself as a maker of plant-based snacks, including what the brand's own site describes as veggie-based pretzels and stalks, cauliflower chips and crackers, according to Real Food From The Ground Up. The brand sits under the umbrella of Our Home, a privately held company that does not publicly report its earnings, per the same Observer report. Our Home's portfolio also includes Popchips and Pop Secret popcorn, and the company is headquartered in New Jersey.
A Pattern of Plant Closures Across Our Home's Network
Conover is not an isolated case. The Observer's report notes that Our Home plans to close several other facilities by December 2026, and the Conover shutdown follows two similar closures announced elsewhere this year. Last week, Powered by FTGU announced it would close a facility in Lititz, Pennsylvania, with that plant — located at 124 West Airport Road in Manheim Township — set to shut down Dec. 14, laying off 67 people, according to PennLive. That closure was also disclosed through a WARN filing, this one submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry.
PennLive's reporting notes that Our Home produces a wider lineup than just the brands tied to the Conover plant, including Food Should Taste Good and You Need This alongside Popchips and Real Food From The Ground Up. The Lancaster County facility itself traces back to Our Home's 2024 purchase of operations from Hanover-based Utz Brands Inc., a deal valued at approximately $182.5 million.
Earlier Closure Hit Las Vegas in August
Before Lititz, the company shuttered a facility in Las Vegas. Real Food From The Ground Up said in August it would close a Las Vegas warehouse, resulting in 61 layoffs, and Food Business News reported the shutdown was scheduled for Aug. 25 and would affect 61 full-time employees at the 63,000-square-foot plant, which originally opened in October 2014 under previous operator RW Garcia. A WARN notice filed with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation described the closure in nearly identical terms, though that filing carries lower confidence in the available record regarding its exact date.
Food Business News also tied the broader reshuffling of Our Home's manufacturing footprint to its 2024 acquisition of the RW Garcia and Good Health brands along with three manufacturing facilities from Utz Brands, a deal worth approximately $182.5 million. Separately, Real Food From The Ground Up previously acquired the Food Should Taste Good tortilla snack business from General Mills, according to Just Food.
What Comes Next for Conover Workers
With three facility closures tied to the same corporate network disclosed within months of each other — Las Vegas in August, Lititz in December, and now Conover in December — the pattern raises questions about the company's broader manufacturing strategy that remain unanswered in the available reporting. No statement from Powered by FTGU LLC or Our Home explaining the Conover decision has been made public. For now, the 93 employees at the Somerset Drive NW plant have a firm date: Dec. 16, 2026, when the facility goes dark for good.
