Freehold Nestlé plant closure looks likely
Jobs headed to Mexico plant
FREEHOLD − Nestlé and its labor union here failed to agree on a package of concessions from employees on Tuesday, putting the company a step closer to closing the landmark manufacturing facility.
After meeting with the company for a little more than an hour, Michael Curcio, president of Teamsters Local 11, said he had little hope that Nestlé would keep the plant open. He instead will set his sights on trying to limit the pain of an upcoming closure.
“It's a real sad day,” Curcio told about a dozen workers who waited outside the plant for an update. “We tried. We thought Nestle would have some compassion, some feeling for the 200-plus people that are here.”
Switzerland-based Nestle manufactures instant coffee at the 500,000-square-foot plant, where it employs about 227. The facility, straddling the Freehold and Freehold Township border, has been a fixture in the region since it opened in 1948.
The company announced six weeks ago that it was considering closing the plant, noting the facility was outdated. Meanwhile, it has been investing millions in new manufacturing plants worldwide. That investment includes a $340 million facility that Nestlé opened last year in Veracruz, Mexico, making Mexico the company's main coffee producer.
Local officials said the facility's loss would be an economic setback. The jobs pay $28 an hour to $38 an hour, along with benefits including health insurance and a retirement plan, employees said.
“A lot of these guys have been here a long time, they make good money,” Freehold Mayor Kevin Kane said. “A plant closure of this magnitude would be horrible.”
Workers were joined by other Teamsters locals Tuesday morning and protested along Jerseyville Avenue, holding signs that read, “Nestlé abandons American workers” and chanting “keep the jobs in Freehold.”
Among them was Alexa Olivadoti, 35, of Jackson, who works the 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift. She was hired seven years ago and came to enjoy the job, despite the overnight hours. In recent weeks, though, she has found herself wondering how she'll afford the monthly rent of $2,100 for her new, two-bedroom apartment.
“I'm going with the flow, but I'm down, worried and have had anxiety ever since they announced (the possibility of closing) last month,” Olivadoti said. “I'm trying to stay positive.”
The Nestlé plant, known for a scent of coffee that could spread for blocks, has been a mainstay in town for gen
erations. As manufacturers in Freehold and New Jersey fled the state in search of lower costs, Nestlé stuck it out, operating here around the clock.
In early May, employees and union officials said, Nestlé officials summoned them to a meeting at the Radisson Hotel in Freehold, where they were told the company needed to save $27 million to make the plant viable.
Curcio said the union came up with a few million dollars in concessions, but couldn't find much more. He noted Nestlé made a $17 billion profit in 2022 and has taken $14.5 million in subsidies from the state of New Jersey.
A Nestlé spokesperson on Tuesday said the facility faces ongoing challenges such as its age, its limited operational flexibility and an inability to meet instant coffee demand in a cost-effective way.
As part of the decision making process, the company also is talking to local Freehold and New Jersey government agencies, the spokesperson said.
“We appreciate the union's willingness to discuss the situation, including the annual cost savings required to make continuing operations there viable for our business in the long term,” the spokesperson said. “Decisional bargaining with the union has concluded, and our leadership team will now make a final decision regarding the factory. We are committed to giving our Freehold employees updates in a timely manner.”
The union and employees didn't sound hopeful.
Thomas Mattaliano, 64, grew up in Marlboro and came to work here after he graduated from high school in 1977. He thought it would simply be a summer job. But it paid well enough that he decided to stay at Nestlé.
“When I first started working here, there was a lot of industry,” Mattaliano said. “Molecu Wire, we had Charms across the road, Brockway Glass. There were a lot of jobs in the area and then they slowly disappeared. I was fortunate. I was able to raise my family, put my kids through school. I feel bad for the younger guys. They're not going to have that opportunity.”
Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.