CPG Roundup: Closures, Campaigns, Leadership Moves & More

Today's digest covers executive shake-ups, plant closures from two major food and beverage companies, a national brand campaign, and a notable product launch in the snack aisle.

Lindt & Sprüngli ousted CEO Adalbert Lechner as growth slowed at the Swiss chocolate giant, naming former chief Dieter Weisskopf as interim replacement. The move reflects mounting pressure on premium chocolate makers, who have absorbed some of the sharpest cocoa cost increases in decades while trying to hold consumer price points. For CPG operators watching the confectionery category, the leadership change signals that even heritage brands with strong equity are not insulated from volume softness when input costs stay elevated and consumers trade down.

Nestlé will shut its Ohio manufacturing facility by the end of 2027, consolidating production into its South Carolina plant as the company responds to shifting consumer demand and volume changes. Plant closures of this scale typically affect hundreds of local jobs and ripple through regional supplier networks, making this a significant event for food-manufacturing workers in the Midwest. The move is part of a broader pattern of legacy food companies rationalizing their footprint as private-label competition and changing category dynamics pressure capacity utilization at older facilities.

PepsiCo is closing its bottling plant in Knoxville, Tennessee, as part of the cost-reduction plan the company's CEO outlined in response to flattening growth in its carbonated soft drink business. The closure adds to a growing list of beverage manufacturing consolidations as soda volumes remain under pressure from both health-conscious consumers and sustained competition from energy and hydration categories. For workers and suppliers tied to that facility, the timeline and transition details will be critical to watch in the coming months.

Amy's Kitchen launched a national advertising campaign aimed at countering consumer confusion around ultra-processed food labels, positioning its minimally processed frozen meals as the more cost-effective choice over time. The campaign enters a crowded conversation at a moment when the food industry is under intense regulatory and media scrutiny over processing levels, and brands that can communicate ingredient simplicity clearly stand to gain shelf credibility. Amy's is betting that education, not just packaging claims, can move purchase intent in a category where shoppers are increasingly skeptical.

Mondelēz has launched a gluten-free version of its Ritz cracker line, extending a strategy the snack giant has already applied to Oreo and Chips Ahoy! as it chases incremental growth through dietary-need segmentation. Gluten-free crackers represent a meaningful subset of the broader better-for-you snack shelf, and placing Ritz in that space gives the brand access to shoppers who have historically been locked out of mainstream cracker options. The release reinforces that large snack portfolios are increasingly treating gluten-free as a standard line extension rather than a niche play.

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Sources: Food Dive · Food Dive · Food Dive · Food Dive · Food Dive

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