#TIL American grocery store staples like #LuckyCharms cereal, Triscuits to #Cheetos & #Chewy brand #granola bars were revealed as being made by migrant children working in allegedly unsafe conditions at secretive processing plants in #GrandRapids, #Michigan?
The #PrivateEquity owned mfgr now seeking #Chapter11 bankruptcy protections has been hit with numerous govt probes, ranging from blocking #Unionization efforts to #ADA issues to exploiting #ChildLabor across 28 facilities in multiple states with over 12,000 employees.
A 2023 #NYTimes investigation found factory floors staffed with low wage undocumented staff, including kids and that has led to recent #bankruptcy filing of Hearthside #Food Solutions, a mass market production & packaging firm
"It would be hard to find a cookie or cracker aisle in any leading grocer that does not contain multiple products from #Hearthside production facilities,β said Richard Roscoe, manager of just one of the corp's four plants in the Grand Rapids, Mich area.
Hearthside , whose plants are largely reliant on non union #TempWorkers , has been publicly mentioned as a partner to #GeneralMills and #PepsiCo. In 2014 Hearthside Food Solutions was sold to #GoldmanSachs and 2018, it was announced #HearthsideFood purchased a #Kellogg cereal production plant in Indiana. Mgmt s proud of flaunt titles such as being named to lists of "Fastest Growing Private Companies" and is recipient of multiple innovation awards, and rarely touts or mentions its many labor law violations or legal troubles.
https://www.iheart.com/content/2024-11-25-maker-of-beloved-snacks-files-for-bankruptcy/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/11/25/downers-grove-based-hearthside-alleged-child-labor-files-for-bankruptcy/
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2020/05/21/memphis-food-packagers-vote-join-ufcw-first-election-since-covid/5205436002/