Nestlé has told employees it plans to close its Solon, Ohio manufacturing factory by the end of 2027, shifting production of its Nestlé Professional Solutions pouches to a facility in Gaffney, South Carolina. The decision was communicated to workers on Monday morning, and it lands in a city where the company has built brands like Lean Cuisine and Stouffer's for generations.
According to fox8.com, production in Solon is expected to wind down entirely by the third quarter of 2027, with the transfer to Gaffney happening gradually over the coming months. The broader Solon campus, including its corporate functions, multiple business units, and research and development operations, will remain open even after factory production ends, the outlet reports. The on-site thrift store at the campus is also expected to keep operating once the factory itself closes, according to the seed reporting from Cleveland.com.
Nestlé has not disclosed how many jobs will be affected by the closure. As ideastream.org put it plainly, “It's unclear how many jobs will be impacted by the closure.” The company is expected to file a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, around March 2027 — a filing that typically alerts workers and local officials ahead of a plant closing and would offer a clearer picture of the layoff numbers.
Stouffer's Roots Run Deep in Solon
Stouffer's history in the region runs deep. Stouffer Foods marked 100 years in business in 2022. The company traces its history back to a dairy stand in downtown Cleveland that eventually grew into the food-service operation now headquartered in Solon. Nestlé has maintained a presence in the city for nearly 60 years, the same report from the public radio outlet notes.
In a statement, Nestlé said the Solon factory “has been part of its presence in Ohio for decades and will remain part of its story,” acknowledging that the decision is difficult for employees and community members with deep ties to the plant. The company also said building on capabilities already in place elsewhere in its network was the most sustainable path forward as customer needs and volumes evolve. Nestlé attributed the move more broadly to an effort to best serve consumers and optimize its network, per the same Ideastream account.
What Happens to Affected Workers
Nestlé says it will provide separation benefits and transition support to employees whose jobs are eliminated, and it will offer them the chance to apply for open positions across the company, including at other plants in Ohio. Other Northeast Ohio Nestlé operations are not affected by the move: the Streetsboro distribution center will continue operating as part of the company's frozen distribution network, and the West 25th Street factory in Cleveland will remain part of Nestlé's manufacturing footprint.
The closure follows a string of earlier cuts at the Solon site. The company laid off more than 200 workers from the Solon manufacturing site in 2024 — a reduction manufacturingdive.com reported at the time as 216 employees at a factory that then employed 780 people, according to manufacturingdive.com. Before that, Nestlé announced plans in November 2023 to lay off 77 employees from its Solon headquarters, a reduction fox8.com reported continued through August 2024. The company also shuttered a freeze-dried coffee plant employing nearly 230 people in New Jersey in late 2023, with production moved to Nestlé facilities in Mexico and Brazil.
Ohio Footprint and Conflicting Figures
Nestlé's overall presence in Ohio remains substantial even as the Solon factory winds down. Ideastream reports the company operates seven facilities statewide employing nearly 3,000 people, while fox8.com has separately reported more than 3,000 employees across nine facilities in Ohio — figures that differ depending on the source and timing of the count.
Nestlé Purina PetCare opened a new factory in Batavia in August, continuing a buildout that began with a $550 million facility announced in 2020 for Williamsburg Township in Clermont County, which was expected to create 300 new jobs. Cleveland.com reported asking Nestlé how many employees currently work at the Solon plant; the outlet also contacted the city of Solon for comment, but Nestlé has not provided that figure.
