Food manufacturers have been reshaping production networks across the United States as companies respond to shifting demand, cost pressure, and plant-efficiency targets. In Tennessee, that broader reset is now hitting two major metros: Memphis and Chattanooga. State WARN filings and company statements show JBS USA Food Company, Pilgrim’s Pride, and WK Kellogg Co. have together disclosed 673 job cuts tied to food production sites in the state.
Three companies filed notices covering 673 jobs
The largest single reduction comes from Pilgrim’s Pride, which said on June 12 it will close the harvesting portion of its Chattanooga operation while continuing to use the site’s deboning infrastructure. The company said 348 team members are affected by that closure, and its announcement tied the move to a $75 million investment in Ellijay, Georgia, to expand harvesting and portioning capacity there.
In Memphis, JBS USA Food Company filed an official WARN notice with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development dated June 17. According to that filing, the company is permanently closing its Empire Packing facility at 1837 Harbor Ave., Memphis, TN 38109, with 208 workers affected and the closure effective August 14, 2026. The state memo identifies the filing as WARN #202500061 and says the company notified Tennessee’s Dislocated Worker Unit on June 12.
WK Kellogg Co. also filed an official Tennessee WARN notice dated June 8. The state said the company reported a permanent layoff affecting 117 workers at 2168 Frisco Avenue, Memphis, TN 38114, with separations scheduled from August 7, 2026, through October 2, 2026. That filing is listed as WARN #202500058, and the notice says both union-represented and non-represented employees are included.
Memphis and Chattanooga are the confirmed Tennessee flashpoints
The confirmed Tennessee impact is concentrated in two cities, with Memphis accounting for two of the three filings. JBS and WK Kellogg together represent 325 announced job losses in Memphis, based on the state’s WARN documents, while Pilgrim’s Pride accounts for 348 affected workers in Chattanooga. Those are the only Tennessee cities specifically identified in the available filings and company materials.
The JBS filing names Empire Packing on Harbor Avenue in Memphis, and the WK Kellogg filing names the company’s Frisco Avenue plant in Memphis. Pilgrim’s public statement confirms Chattanooga as the location of the harvesting shutdown, but the company’s announcement does not provide a street address in the release reviewed for this story. The state WARN material available for JBS and WK Kellogg describes those notices as official filings; a comparable Tennessee WARN memo for Pilgrim’s Pride was not located in the materials reviewed here, though the company publicly confirmed the 348-worker impact.
What remains unconfirmed is just as important. None of the three companies has released a comprehensive public list of individual Tennessee job titles by department beyond what is contained in the WARN materials, and no broader statewide map of secondary supplier effects has been published. For residents, the confirmed footprint is Memphis and Chattanooga, with layoffs beginning August 7, August 14, and September 25, depending on the employer.
Companies point to modernization, portfolio shifts, and efficiency
Each company has framed its decision as part of a broader operational reset rather than a sudden statewide retreat. Pilgrim’s said the Chattanooga harvesting closure is part of a strategic shift tied to the Ellijay expansion, describing the Georgia project as a way to meet growing demand for higher-value boneless chicken products, improve efficiency, and align production with long-term consumer trends. The company also said there will be no impact on the grower base in the region.
WK Kellogg’s Memphis reduction fits into a wider supply-chain overhaul already outlined by the company and reported by Food Business News. That report said the Memphis cuts are part of a larger initiative to modernize the company’s network after WK Kellogg previously detailed plans for hundreds of millions of dollars in supply-chain investments, including a production scale-down in Memphis and a separate Omaha plant closure.
For customers, these filings do not currently indicate an immediate change to grocery availability in Tennessee. Pilgrim’s said Chattanooga’s deboning operation will continue to support nearby production, and the company said customer service levels will be maintained through its broader network. Tennessee’s labor department says WARN notices are intended to provide advance notice before plant closings and mass layoffs, giving local rapid-response teams time to coordinate employment and transition services as the layoff dates approach.