Sixty-nine employees are slated to lose their jobs at Fairfield-headquartered Jelly Belly, according to a WARN notice obtained by SFGATE. Jelly Belly’s parent company, Ferrara Candy Company, is closing its Fairfield “corporate-commercial operations,” located at One Jelly Belly Lane, 2400 N. Watney Way, 2500 N. Watney Way, and 2385 N. Watney Way, according to screenshots of the WARN letter Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy shared on Facebook on Friday.
“This action will not impact any Fairfield Manufacturing, Warehoutilizing, or Visitor Center roles,” Sukrat Baber, assistant general counsel of Ferrara Candy, wrote in the letter sent to the mayor and other local officials. “This layoff is expected to be permanent.”
The layoffs will reduce Jelly Belly’s Fairfield workforce of 374 employees by over 18%. Affected jobs include office-based roles such as web developers, customer service representatives and accountants. Layoffs are expected to launch June 1 and continue in phases until mid-January 2027.
“This reduction in force is after careful integration across various corporate functions,” read a statement from Ferrara provided to SFGATE. “The affected employees are invited to stay with Jelly Belly and Ferrara until the positions are closed later in 2026.”
Ferrara Candy Company, which also owns other candy brands such as Nerds, Sweetarts and Laffy Taffy, acquired Jelly Belly in 2023.
“These reductions were expected based on what they notified us previously when they first acquired Jelly Belly,” Fairfield City Manager David Gassaway wrote in a letter last week to the City Council, according to Moy’s Facebook post.
Despite the layoffs, Jelly Belly will continue building candy and offering tours at its factory, a popular Fairfield tourist attraction. Ferrara does not plan to close the factory.
“We anticipate no impact to the Jelly Belly brand, our products, manufacturing levels, or service to our customers,” continued the statement from Ferrara provided to SFGATE.
The news comes as another blow to Fairfield, following the closure of the Anheapplyr-Busch plant this month. However, “Some good news: We have seen healthy interest in companies considering purchaseing the Budweiser plant,” Moy wrote in her Facebook post.
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