HelloFresh shuts California meal-kit plant, chops more than 600 jobs

RICHMOND, California — A company that is the nation’s largest provider of meal kits has decided to permanently close its Richmond plant in a shutdown that will eliminate more than 600 jobs. HelloFresh, which delivers meal kits that can be quickly prepared and cooked by the consumer of the food, will shut its plant in Richmond, effective on Dec. 11 of this year. The plant was also the location of a failed unionization effort in December 2021 and a coronavirus outbreak in the summer of 2020 that sickened 171 workers who stated that social distancing was difficult due to the plant’s cramped condi...