Manischewitz To Close Newark Plant — Laying Off 169 Workers

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — The Manischewitz Co. said it will close its plant in Newark, New Jersey, cutting the jobs of 169 workers.
The kosher food manufacturer’s announcement last week came in the form of a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, that it would be cutting the jobs. According to the notice, which is required 60 days before a mass layoff, the closing and layoffs will be effective as of Sept. 14.
“Our products will be made at more modern New Jersey facilities,” a Manischewitz spokesman told njbiz.com.
Manischewitz is working to help the laid-off employees find jobs, the spokesman said.
The company’s executives will remain at the current offices in Newark, where they moved in 2006 following a consolidation effort. At the time, Newark Mayor Cory Booker said the company’s presence in his city “makes me the proudest mayor in America. It gives me great nachas.”
The 129-year-old company calls itself “the nation’s largest manufacturer of processed kosher food products and the No. 1 baker of matzah in the entire world.”
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
