ORRVILLE, OHIO — The J.M. Smucker Co. is closing a plant in Indianapolis that manufactures sweet baked goods for its Hostess business. The company plans to close and pursue a sale of the plant by the end of 2026, according to the company.  

“This decision continues the ongoing work to ensure our manufacturing network is optimized to mitigate costs and reduce complexity in support of the execution of our sweet baked snacks strategy, which is focused on stabilizing the Hostess business and positioning it for long-term growth,” said Judd Freitag, senior vice president and general manager of Pet and Sweet Baked Snacks for J.M. Smucker.

The move underpins the company’s effort to improve the performance of its Sweet Baked Goods business unit. In early March, Smucker sold the Big Texas and Cloverhill brands as well as a manufacturing plant in Chicago to JTM Foods, LLC for $40 million. Both brands were a part of Smucker’s acquisition of Hostess Brands in 2023.

In late February, Smucker incurred a non-cash impairment charge of $1 billion that primarily was attributed to the underperformance of the Hostess business.

“This (the impairment charges) reflects the slower-than-anticipated recovery of the sweet baked goods category and our execution from a distribution, merchandising, and competitive standpoint,” said Tucker Marshall, chief financial officer, when the charge was announced. “Going forward, we are focused on our five pillars to stabilize and return the Hostess brand to growth.”