Oreo Cookies End of an era: Chicago’s last Oreo line has shut down
The final Chicago-made Oreo cookies rolled off the line Friday, ending the iconic cookie’s decadeslong run of delighting hometown consumers and providing good-paying union jobs on the Southwest Side.
The Chicago plant will continue to make other products, like BelVita breakfast biscuits and Mini Chips Ahoy cookies. Oreo cookies will continue to be made at three other plants in the U.S. — just not at the brick bakery at 7300 S. Kedzie Ave. The shutdown of the Oreo lines is part of Mondelez International’s plan to shift some of its production to Mexico. Last summer the company said it would be laying off about half of the Chicago bakery’s 1,200 workers; many of them are already gone.
Russell Dyer, vice president of global communications for Mondelez, confirmed via email that the end of Oreo’s run in Chicago was Friday but emphasized that the company remains committed to the Chicago plant and production in the U.S. more generally.
“(The Chicago) bakery will continue to play an important role in our manufacturing network, and we continue to invest in capabilities, technologies and infrastructure upgrades,” Dyer said.
That’s little consolation to some longtime employees who’ve seen the workforce dwindle over the years. Herman Owens, 57, worked at the plant for 38 years, following in the footsteps of his father, General Owens, who worked at the plant for more than 40 years. Herman Owens, who retired earlier this month, recalled visiting the bakery as a boy.
“They tasted a lot better to me then than they do now,” Owens said. “I think it’s a doggone shame what they’re doing, shutting down lines and shipping jobs to Mexico. It’s a disgrace.”
Since last summer, the decision to lay off 600 workers and move the lines to Mexico has sparked various union-led protests, lawsuits, a boycott of Mexico-made Oreos and rhetoric on the presidential campaign trail. Last August, Donald Trump vowed to never eat another Oreo because the company is “closing a factory in Chicago and they’re moving to Mexico.”
In interviews since then, Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld has advised the presumptive GOP presidential nominee to get his facts straight.
Members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, which represents the majority of those being laid off, are still working without a contract as the union and the company have so far been unable to reach compromise in contract negotiations. The bakers union has meanwhile mounted a boycott of Mexican-made Oreos and a related social media campaign.
Oreo production in Chicago dates to 1953, making it one of the longest-running facilities churning out the cookies in the Mondelez network of bakeries, said Mondelez spokeswoman Laurie Guzzinati. The cookie was first made in New York City in 1912.
Over the years, the Oreo brand has achieved and sustained enormous popularity worldwide. It sells in more than 100 countries and last year brought in almost $2.9 billion in global sales.
In making the decision, Mondelez executives said they could save $46 million a year by installing the so-called “lines of the future” in Salinas, Mexico, rather than Chicago. The move is in line with Mondelez’s recent efforts to increase margins in its developed markets while pushing for growth in emerging markets.
Mondelez, a $30 billion company, came into existence when Kraft Foods split into two publicly traded companies in 2012. The spun-off North American grocery business, Kraft Foods Group, later merged with Heinz to become Kraft Heinz.
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
I guess I will be phasing out Nabisco products also. I am so tired of our good paying jobs going to Mexico and other countries.
Thank you!!!
Yea no more of their stuff in my house
How are those Mexican Oreos gonna get in if there is a great big Trump Tower Wall around the southern border???
We are better off w/o Trump
I will no longer buy Oreo cookies
The days of Unions demanding outrageous wages, unbelievable benefits, seniority dictating virtually everything, retirement pay after 30 yrs equal to what they earned WHILE THEY WORKED are unsustainable and OVER!
Get Over it!!!
Contrary to what the Uneducated Think, the first obligation of a Publicly Held Company is to it’s Stock Holders -THE OWNERS – ! Next is its CUSTOMERS – who allow it to continue to exist!
Then, The Employees!
Sorry Folks. But that’s how Capitalism Works!
Don’t like it?
Move to a Socialist Country and “Give it a Go”!!!
First duty is to the employees. Look after the employees, and they will look after the customers. Look after the customers, and THEN you will get dividend for the stockholders. The stockholders don’t generate the income, the employees do.
Amen
Marketing 101, No sale equals no business profit at all. Which then equals no
business at all.
FIRST RESPONSIBILITY OF A COMPANY IS TO ITS EMPLOYEES…NEXT TO ITS CUSTOMERS…DOING THAT WILL GENERATE GREAT PROFITS TO THE STOCKHOLDERS..THAT IS THE SECRET TO SUCCESS THAT HAD BEEN IGNORED BY COMPANYS AND HAS RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS!!!!!
I will NEVER EVER eat another oreo and I will consider not using other mondelez products
Agreee
I can make my own damn cookies!
Stay tuned for an upcoming article which includes a recipe of a version we tried and love!
Another reason we need to keep jobs in the States
Please keep the production of Oreo cookies in America or I will not buy them again.
I will boycott all nabisco products not made in the USA and am urging my family and friends to do the same.
You and me both. Thanks
I’m certainly done with Oreo cookies my favorite but not on the backs of dedicated Americans. Chris Meyer Local 255 Atlantic City New Jersey
I will look at the origin of product that I buy. I will not purchase American product made in another country. I will educate my friends also.
So why can’t the same upgrades be done in Chicago, and not give all these jobs to Mexico . Is your company getting a little to greedy. It also takes one to train all these new people you plan to hire there. PLEASE KEEP JOBS IN THE UNITED STATES.
yeah. i’m with y’all. i’ve bought my last box of oreos. i don’t even live up that way, but i’m sick of all of these big companies taking jobs to other countries, when we NEED them here in america… wtf??? act like a proud american, not a freakin’ greedy company!
Will not buy Oreos again! People please buy something else made in the USA.
I gagged after h as Ving an Oreo today. I looked at the bag and realized they were made in Mexico. Looked it up and found out it just happened. If I hadn’t had my head buried I would have boycotted but having tasted them, there is NO way I will ever buy them now. They taste gross now! The stuffing is clumpy and nasty!