Conagra Brands creates jobs in Missouri with plant investment project

Conagra Brands is investing almost $30m to upgrade equipment at a plant in Missouri producing the company’s Healthy Choice and Marie Callender’s meals.

The project at the publicly listed US food business’ facility in the city of Macon will create 26 jobs, adding to the 340 existing positions, according to a joint statement from Conagra and the local development authority.

Conagra said the $29.1m investment includes the replacement of “outdated equipment” and to increase the site’s food cooling capabilities.

Baking ovens and freezers will be replaced, while new equipment for “dewatering” processes and raw meat inspection and processing will be brought in to expand the products manufactured at the premises.

“This expansion represents a meaningful investment in both our business and the local community and we’re proud to continue building our presence here,” John Phipps, the manager of Conagra’s Macon facility, said.

“We value our strong partnership with the city of Macon and look forward to expanding our operations.”

Missouri’s Department of Economic Development will provide undisclosed tax credits and access to capital for the Macon project, according to the statement.

The expansion at Macon follows the Birds Eye and Duncan Hines brand maker’s decision earlier this year to close its pie filling plant in Fennville, Michigan, by the end of June, putting 85 worker’s jobs on the line.

Last year, Conagra also permanently closed its Birds Eye frozen vegetables plant in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, with the loss of 252 jobs.

Around another 500 employees will also be trimmed from the group workforce after Conagra said earlier this month it was selling its Chef Boyardee shelf-stable pasta business to Hometown Food Company for $600m in cash.

The deal includes a 820,000 square-foot production facility in Milton, Pennsylvania, and all the staff employed at the plant.

Chef Boyardee’s shelf-stable products generated approximately $450m in net sales for Conagra in 2024.

Before the disposal was announced, Conagra issued its third-quarter results in April, when it kept its guidance unchanged for a range of metrics in 2025.

The maker of the snack brand Angie’s Boomchickapop forecasts group-wide organic net sales will decline by around 2% following a year-to-date decline of 2.8% to $8.83bn over the nine months of the current fiscal year.

Conagra foresees an adjusted operating margin of 14.4% and adjusted EPS of $2.35.

The margin fell to 14.2% over the nine months from 16.3% in the same period of 2024, while adjusted EPS dropped to $1.73 from $2.06.