Popular Snack Maker With Big Location in Idaho Declares Bankruptcy

Since they have no brands of their own, you’re probably not familiar with this popular snack food manufacturer. Little did you know that a company producing some of the most well known snack food brands in the country has had a facility in Boise for nearly eight years. 

Who is Hearthside Food Solutions?

According to Food Processing, the food manufacturer has been a silent partner of major brands you know like General Mills and PepsiCo. The U.S. Sun also mentions that they’ve worked with Kraft and Kellogg’s. Of all the private bakeries in America, they were the largest producer of granola and nutritional bars in 2019 when they won the title of “2019 Processor of the Year.” That’s the sort of product they’ve been churning out of their facility on Eisenman Road since they bought an old PowerBar plant at that address.

Hearthside Foods Solutions’ Parent Company Files Bankruptcy

Unfortunately, you’re discovering this company’s presence in Idaho’s economy just as they’re facing some major hardships. Business Wire reports that H-Food Holdings LLC, the parent company of Hearthside, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As they make their way through proceedings, they aim to operate like nothing’s wrong. They want to make sure that customer programs are still available, vendors are paid on a post-petition basis and employees receive their paychecks and benefits. 

READ MORE: 13 Big Brands That Are Closing Idaho Locations in 2024 

Reuters adds that the company is trying to reduce its large $1.9 billion debt and restructure its operations. 

Hearthside Faces Major Controversy

While reading that Reuters article, we noticed some serious allegations that Hearthside was under scrutiny for employing underage, migrant workers at their facilities in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to the New York Times, this was a common theme at all of Hearthside’s facilities in the area where workers were baking and packaging products like Chewy and Nature Valley granola bars, as well as Lucky Charms cereal and Cheetos snacks. The 15 year-old they spoke to was trying to earn money to send home to her ailing grandmother in Guatemala. 

Get our free mobile app

The article alleges that the manufacturer knew that some of the very young workers they hired through a third party had their identities flagged as false and didn’t care.

Reuters said that the company denied the allegations and denied that they played any role in their bankruptcy.  

Hearthside isn’t the first company with Idaho ties to file for bankruptcy in Idaho, a great deal of the businesses that closed some of all of their Idaho locations in 2024 went through bankruptcy this year.