Campbell's plans to close Hyannis Cape Cod potato chip plant

The Campbell's Company plans to close a potato chip plant in Massachusetts and shift production to other facilities as part of an efficiency drive.

Campbell's will cease operations at its Hyannis manufacturing site in April and sell the facility. The site produces Cape Cod and Kettle Brand chips and is the smallest potato chip plant in Campbell's network in terms of size and volume. The company said the closure will impact 49 employees.

Elizabeth Duggan, President of Campbell's Snacks:

"This difficult decision reflects a careful assessment of our business needs to strengthen our operations and position our Snacks business for long-term growth."

Production shift and network footprint

Campbell's said the Hyannis location produces 4% of the total annual volume of Cape Cod chips and "the site no longer makes economic sense for the business". As the Cape Cod brand has grown, production has increased at other snack locations, including plants in Beloit, Wisconsin; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Hanover, Pennsylvania.
 

Brand history and wider consolidation

Cape Cod chips was founded in Hyannis in 1980, and the plant has been in operation since 1985, according to Campbell's. The company acquired the brand as part of its nearly USD 5 billion purchase of Snyder's-Lance in 2018.

Similar to other food companies such as PepsiCo and General Mills, Campbell's has closed and consolidated some facilities while increasing efficiencies elsewhere. In 2023, Campbell's said it would invest USD 50 million and add 330 workers at its New Jersey headquarters while closing snack offices in Charlotte and Norwalk, Connecticut. A year later, Campbell's announced it was closing a Pacific soup and broth plant and reducing the size of a separate potato chip facility. The maker of Rao's, Late July and V8 also said it planned to invest USD 230 million through fiscal 2026 in newer, more efficient plants.