CHICAGO — Blommer Chocolate Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Oil Holdings, will close its Chicago manufacturing plant. The facility is Blommer’s original manufacturing plant that opened in 1939.
“The location and age of the Chicago facility coupled with increasing repair and maintenance of the building and equipment has elevated operating costs and created production reliability issues,” Blommer said.
Blommer said its corporate headquarters, the applications laboratory and new research and development center will remain in Chicago at the Merchandise Mart. Fuji will continue to expand the lab capabilities in Chicago Merchandise Mart and create a new R&D center that will support future development, concept testing, processing and ingredient research, continued application evaluation and creation to enhance the customer experience. The new facility will open later this fall, Blommer said.
“It was an incredibly challenging yet inevitable decision to close the Chicago plant,” said Mark Okita, chief operating officer and senior vice president of commercial. “However, in order to propel Blommer to the next level, we must embrace progress, transformation and elevation. Our planned expansion to the Campbellford Canada operation is the next step toward our transformation. This marks a new chapter for us as Blommer, as well as our customers. It is imperative that we challenge ourselves aggressively to ensure that this becomes the best chapter yet.”
Blommer said the closing allows the company to focus on other manufacturing facilities — namely those in East Greenville, Pa.; Union City, Calif.; and Campbellford, Ont., respectively — and will invest $100 million in these three facilities.
“One of the major factors in the Blommer transformation is expanding our service to the specialty confectionery coating business by investing in the Campbellford facility,” said Neil Fulton, general manager – Campbellford. Blommer said it will invest $60 million to make the Campbellford facility one of the largest confectionery coating manufacturing facilities in North America, with the additional capacity coming online in April 2026.
Meanwhile, more than $40 million is planned for the company’s East Greenville and Union City facilities. The funds will be used to increase operational efficiency and reliability, as well as automate processing and packaging equipment, Blommer said.