Enjoy Life Foods to close Jeffersonville operations

Illinois-based Enjoy Life Foods is planning to close its bakery operations at River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville. In a notice to the state, the company said it will begin several rounds of layoffs in July, ultimately impacting 105 employees.

Enjoy Life Foods makes a variety of allergy-friendly and gluten free snacks, including cookies, chocolate, and snack bars.

The company filed a WARN Notice with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development indicating its plans to close the facility at 301 Salem Road.

In a statement to IIB, Enjoy Life Foods said a “significant increase” in the variety of “free-from” snacks available to consumers, the company decided to reevaluate its offerings.

“While we remain committed to Enjoy Life Foods, we need to ensure that ELF can continue to grow in a way that makes sense for the business,” the company said. “As part of this shift, we have decided to exit our lease for the ELF manufacturing plant we have in Jeffersonville, Indiana as we refocus and narrow our portfolio. We have shared this news with our employees and will be spending the next few months phasing out production at that site.”

The layoffs are scheduled to take place July 3, September 1, and October 3, with the final round expected when the facility officially closes on April 1, 2024.

The closure is expected to be permanent and the affected employees are not represented by a union and do not have bumping rights.

Enjoy Life Foods invested $39 million to open the 200,000-square-foot facility in September 2016. According to documents filed with the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the company planned to add 200 jobs by the end of 2017.

The IEDC offered the company up to $800,000 in conditional tax credits based on its job creation plans.

Enjoy Life Foods is a subsidiary of Mondelez International Inc., which also owns brands such as Chips Ahoy, Triscuit and Oreo.