Across the U.S., food manufacturers are still reshaping production networks as higher operating costs and uneven demand pressure margins. In Washington, that shift is now visible in a fresh round of cuts touching multiple food-processing employers in Kent, Wenatchee and Selah.
Rise Baking, Blue Bird and Crunch Pak account for at least 303 affected jobs
Rise Baking Company confirmed on March 12 that it will close its Kent facility, and Washington’s Employment Security Department recorded a WARN notice covering 120 workers with separations beginning Aug. 7. Kent Reporter, citing the state filing and the company’s announcement, identified the site as 21331 88th Place South, Building F in Kent.
The Kent plant makes bakery products including pies, cakes, cookies, muffins and icings for grocery and food-service customers. In its March 12 statement, Rise Baking said it is expanding production in Pleasant View, Utah, and will consolidate its manufacturing footprint as part of that plan.
The layoffs are not limited to one employer. A separate WARN filing for Blue Bird Inc. in Wenatchee covered 82 workers, with an effective date of May 16 after the notice was filed March 17. Another filing for Food Service Slicing LLC, doing business as Crunch Pak, covered 101 workers in Selah in connection with a March closure, according to WARN-tracking records based on the state notice.
Taken together, those three actions total at least 303 affected jobs in Washington food manufacturing. The notices involve a permanent closure in Kent, a seasonal processing layoff in Wenatchee, and a separate facility shutdown in Selah, showing the cutbacks are spread across different parts of the state’s food supply chain.
The impact stretches from Puget Sound to Central Washington
The confirmed locations show how broad the latest cuts are within Washington. Rise Baking’s closure is in Kent in South King County, while Blue Bird’s layoff is in Wenatchee and Crunch Pak’s affected operation is in Selah, two communities tied closely to the state’s fruit-processing economy.
What is confirmed is the worker count attached to each notice and the date layoffs can begin. Washington’s WARN database says employers must report the business location, number of affected workers, type of action, and effective date, but public summaries do not always provide a full employee-by-employee or job-by-job breakdown.
That means some local details remain unclear. The companies have not released a comprehensive public list of every affected job title, and a full accounting of how many workers may transfer to other facilities has not been publicly detailed in the notices reviewed.
For residents, the geography matters. Kent is part of a larger distribution and manufacturing corridor, while Wenatchee and Selah sit in regions where food processing is deeply connected to orchard production and seasonal agricultural work. Employment Security data also shows Chelan County’s unemployment rate was 5.2% in March 2026, compared with 5.1% statewide, underscoring the pressure that additional cuts can place on local labor markets.
Companies cite consolidation, seasonality and broader cost pressure
The reasons differ somewhat by employer, but the pattern is consistent. Rise Baking said the Kent closure is tied to a broader network optimization strategy and an expansion in Utah intended to increase capacity in several product categories, including pies.
Blue Bird’s filing points to a different dynamic common in Washington agriculture: seasonality. Reporting on the notice described the Wenatchee reductions as tied to the end of the production season, affecting workers in packaging, sanitation and production roles as fruit-processing activity winds down.
The broader backdrop is a labor market with limited momentum. Washington’s Employment Security Department said the state lost an estimated 3,200 jobs in March 2026 and described recent months as a period of low or no growth, suggesting employers across industries are operating in a more cautious environment.
For customers, these notices do not automatically mean immediate product shortages on store shelves. What they do show is that more food production is being consolidated, shifted or wound down inside Washington. Rise Baking said affected Kent workers will receive severance and retention support aligned with years of service, and state officials say workers impacted by major layoffs may be eligible for job-search and retraining assistance through WorkSource programs.