Chicago-based Fontanini Foods Announces Furlough of 150 Team Members

Fontanini Foods based in McCook, Ill., announced today that it will be temporarily furloughing approximately 150 of its nearly 500 team members on May 4, 2020. Fontanini Foods is well-known for its authentic Italian products sold to some of the most renowned foodservice venues such as restaurants, hotels, sports arenas, colleges and universities. Due to a dramatic decline in foodservice business as a result of the global COVID-19 outbreak, the company decided the best course of action was to provide a furlough for a portion of its team. Fontanini Foods is part of the Hormel Foods Corporation’s (NYSE:HRL) family of companies.

“As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, it is having an unfortunate impact on our lives and on our business,” said John Kempen, plant manager, Fontanini Foods. “While the company has made every effort to keep our production running as usual, due to market conditions, we have been faced with the difficult decision of placing some of our valued team members on furlough. Our dedicated employees have been working hard over the last several weeks and we thank them for all they are doing as essential workers. We fully expect this furlough to be temporary and look forward to bringing our employees back to work as soon as we are able.”

All team members who are temporary furloughed will continue to receive company health and welfare benefits during the furlough. The company has communicated with its team members and will be working together in the coming weeks to ensure team members are supported, and that the duration of the furlough is as limited as possible.