Frito-Lay Closes Longtime Rancho Cucamonga Plant

Famed snack giant Frito-Lay is ceasing manufacturing operations at its Rancho Cucamonga plant after more than half a century at the facility.

The company, owned by parent company PepsiCo Foods U.S., confirmed the shutdown of operations at the site Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported. Frito-Lay has been a major employer in the area since opening the factory in 1970.

PepsiCo might have eliminated hundreds of jobs, according to USA Today, though the company did not specify how many workers were affected. A few Frito-Laymployees told KTLA that some workers were not allowed to transfer to different departments to preserve employment.

While manufacturing at the Rancho Cucamonga site is ending, warehouse, distribution, fleet and transportation services will continue to operate out of the facility.

The California Employment Development Department confirmed to the Times that Frito-Lay had not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the state. The most recent WARN report up to June 9 included no indication of layoffs from PepsiCo or Frito-Lay.

“We are truly grateful for all the support over the last five decades from our Rancho Cucamonga manufacturing team as well as the local community,” PepsiCo Foods U.S. said in a statement to USA Today. “We are committed to supporting those impacted through this transition and we are offering pay and benefits to impacted employees.”

Frito-Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga facility, located at 9535 Archibald Avenue, holds a storied place in American snack food history. At one point, the factory employed Richard Montañez, who rose from janitor to executive and has been credited with creating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in 1991. The story, which PepsiCo has disputed in court, was the subject of the 2023 movie “Flamin’ Hot.”

The Rancho Cucamonga shutdown is the latest in a string of PepsiCo facility closures and cutbacks across the country.

In February, the company announced it was closing a Frito-Lay plant in Liberty, New York, laying off all 287 workers. In May, the company laid off 56 employees at a storage warehouse in Aberdeen, Maryland. And in October, PepsiCo closed four bottling plants in Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, eliminating 400 jobs.

In a February earnings call, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said the conglomerate was “right-sizing the cost” of its snacks division following a dropoff in Frito-Lay sales volume in the first quarter.

— Chris Malone Méndez