According to estimates, Americans eat 46 million turkeys each year on Thanksgiving alone – about a fifth of the birds raised annually.
But less than a week after the holiday wrapped this year, Butterball held a town hall meeting at its Jonesboro, Arkansas facility – and it wasn’t to celebrate.
According to recent reports, Butterball announced on December 4th that it would be closing its Jonesboro facility, and laying off its 180 workers.
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Butterball completed a WARN filing in response to the scenario, and says the workers will receive compensation and medical benefits if they continue to work until their “end-of-service” date.
The plant – considered a “further processing” facility where the turkeys are mainly packed and shipped – will close on February 3rd.
Butterball has operated the plant for nearly two decades and will move any necessary production to other facilities within its network.
And while CEO Jay Jandrain said company leadership “deliberated for a long time about this difficult decision” some workers unfortunately had seen the writing on the wall.
One employee, who spoke with local news Channel 8, said “most of us saw it coming” as their hours began to dwindle in the months leading up to the announcement.
Butterball says it’s been facing sales challenges – among them, lower prices for poultry.
Seaboard Corporation, which owns a controlling stake in Butterball, reported $6 million in net income for the turkey company in the third quarter, representing a 70% decline year over year.
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