The food and beverage sector has cut 29,693 jobs through September 2026, a 76 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Major firms announced the reductions alongside facility closures, including Tyson, which shut down three beef plants in August. Campbell’s, Amy’s Kitchen, Diageo, and Sapporo USA also joined the list of companies downsizing or closing operations during this period.
Closure announcements
Nestlé revealed that its Solon, Ohio factory will stop production by the third quarter of 2027. The company plans to move pouch manufacturing for Lean Cuisine and Hot Pockets to a facility in Gaffney, South Carolina. Solon had 780 employees in 2024, and 216 layoffs were already announced there prior to the latest closure news. Nestlé stated that utilizing existing capacity elsewhere represents the most sustainable path forward.
PepsiCo closed its bottling plant in Knoxville, Tennessee, this week, affecting 112 workers across manufacturing, maintenance, and warehouse roles. CEO Ramon Laguarta explained the decision by noting that activities not tied to growth will no longer be part of the company. North America beverage volume fell 2 percent in the last quarter, contributing to the decision.
Capital is shifting focus from physical space to machinery. PMMI projects the US packaging equipment market will reach $12.2 billion in 2026, a 4.5 percent increase. Food products will account for 44 percent of these purchases, with shipments expected to rise another 6.8 percent in 2027. Tariff uncertainty stalled proposals in 2025, but those projects are now converting into orders.
Crop reports and cargo theft
The USDA’s October crop report raised the 2026 US corn yield estimate to 181.2 bushels per acre, an increase from 178.5 in September. This marks the largest September-to-October rise since 2005. The total production estimate sits at 16,034 million bushels, up 1.5 percent from the previous month. December corn futures fell 4.1 percent to settle at $4.79¾ per bushel after surging 29 percent from June.
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Supply chain thefts dropped 26 percent year-over-year in Q2 2026, though losses per incident are climbing. CargoNet data shows pilferage accounted for 46 percent of Q2 incidents, up from 37 percent in Q1. California accounts for 34 percent of all US incidents, with Texas at 18 percent. Seafood has become an emerging target, replacing beverages on the priority list. CargoNet’s advisory warns that the current decline should not be interpreted as a significant reduction in risk.
Legal actions and regulations
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Nestlé’s Gerber brand this week, seeking more than $10 million in penalties. The lawsuit alleges heavy metal contamination in baby food sold between 2017 and 2019. Documents claim Gerber’s own tests showed toxic levels of lead, cadmium, and arsenic, and that the company misled consumers about safety. Gerber stated its products meet FDA limits and that complete elimination of heavy metals is impossible.
McCormick is monitoring four simultaneous FDA developments that affect its supply chain. The agency aims to remove all FD&C artificial colors by the end of 2027, with Red No. 3 already banned. McCormick’s VP of regulatory affairs called the forthcoming ultra-processed food definition potentially “transformational.” The FDA is also proposing to make GRAS approval mandatory and is considering front-of-pack labeling requirements for saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar.
Retailers and restaurants subject to the 24-hour records requirement for the FDA’s FSMA 204 traceability rule are planning ahead of the July 2028 enforcement date. Suppliers should write these expectations into contracts now rather than waiting for regulators. The two-year record retention period means that even after a relationship ends, firms may need to produce records for products shipped within the past two years. The 2025 Cyclospora outbreak, which sickened 12,883 people across 21 states, demonstrated the consequences when lot tracking breaks down during distribution.
