Mars-owned snacks brand Nature’s Bakery is to permanently close a manufacturing plant in the US state of Missouri. 

In a local-government filing, Mars said production at the site in Hazelwood will be moved to other, unnamed facilities.

The business is expected to keep the Hazelwood plant running this year, with a full shutdown scheduled for September 2027.

The filing states 130 employees are expected to leave on 11 September, followed by a further 215 on 26 February 2027. 

“All Nature’s Bakery employees have been notified of the facility permanent closure and have been notified of their respective employment end dates. All associates can seek alternate employment within Nature’s Bakery and the Mars family of companies,” the notice read. 

It added employees who do not find alternative roles within Nature’s Bakery or Mars will lose their jobs. 

Just Food has approached Mars seeking comment on the reasons for the closure, the number and location of Nature’s Bakery’s other plants, as well as the products made at Hazelwood. 

Two years ago, Mars announced plans to add new US manufacturing capacity for its Nature’s Bakery brand. 

In January 2024, the company said it would invest $237m in a new factory in Salt Lake City in Utah covering more than 339,000 square feet. 

At that point, Nature’s Bakery operated two plants in Carson City in Nevada and in Hazelwood.

Based in Reno in Nevada, Nature’s Bakery was bought by Mars in 2020 through Kind, its snacking business.

Mars first took a stake in Kind in 2017, a deal that also handed the company control of the US group’s international operations. In November 2020, Mars moved to full global ownership of Kind. 

In December, the European Commission approved Mars’ $35.9bn acquisition of Kellanova.

That deal, involving one of the two companies created by Kellogg’s 2023 demerger, ranks among the biggest transactions in the packaged food sector in recent years.