After snack company Mondelez International announced that two U.S. cookie bakers would close in 2021, social media posts said the posts would be sent to Mexico or that the government was run by President Joe Biden. However, according to a company spokesman, these allegations are false.
A Facebook message shared more than 2,250 times here reads: ‘Nabisco closes plants in Georgia and New Jersey, and draws to Mexico congratulations on Biden’s election’. Other repetitions can be seen here and here.
On February 4, Mondelez International Inc. (here), owner of Nabisco, announced the closure of two of its three east coast bakeries: Atlanta, Georgia and Fair Lawn, New Jersey (here), a decision that will affect a total of 1,000. workers (600 in Fair Lawn and 400 in Atlanta). The company previously discussed the possible move last year on 18 November 2020 (here).
According to the company, these two plants, which are expected to cease by the summer of 2021, are ‘no longer strategic assets from a geographical footprint perspective, and both face significant operational challenges, including obsolete infrastructure and obsolete production capacity.’
On November 16, 2020, New Jersey’s Fifth District Congressman Josh Gottheimer expressed his concern about the company’s plans in a public statement here. “We all fear that these posts will move to Mexico, which is clearly unacceptable,” he said.
In his statement, however, Mondelez said that he was “committed to the United States, as well as to a robust production of American cookies” and that “no American jobs will go to Mexico with regard to these two closures, and that the US cake production levels will be maintained. ”
Laurie M. Guzzinati, senior director of Mondelez, North America’s corporate and government affairs, told Reuters by telephone that “None of the [claims in the posts] is accurate. The decision was ‘not about Mexico’, but about the company’s American manufacturing network, she reassured.
The company’s cake operations in the US will be maintained by their existing bakeries in Richmond, Virginia; Chicago and Naperville, Illinois; and Portland, Oregon and ‘supplemented by years of external manufacturers supporting the business for decades,’ the spokesman added.
The snack giant has about 80,000 employees around the world and, according to their website here, including Mexico, operates in more than 80 countries.
As reported here and here by the Chicago Tribune, in 2016 Mondelez cut about 600 jobs at its Chicago plant and moved part of the business to Salinas, Mexico, where the company announced a $ 130 million investment to “inefficient production lines against its Chicago biscuit plant” (here). At the time, the move led to criticism from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump (here).
The company has invested in healthy brands as consumers’ eating habits change, adding brands such as Tate’s and Perfect Snacks to its portfolio (here). It also rushed to develop products with less sugar, in smaller package sizes and clearer portion suggestions (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. According to Mondelez (Nabisco’s parent company), the 1,000 jobs that will be cut in 2021 due to the closure of two cookie bakers in New Jersey and Georgia will not be relocated to Mexico. According to a spokesperson, the decision, which was only announced in November 2020, is not related to the Biden government.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.