Alphia Ends Pawnee City Production, Cutting 93 Nebraska Jobs

Executive Summary: Alphia, the US pet food and treat manufacturer formerly known as C.J. Foods, will stop production at its plant in Pawnee City, Nebraska, and lay off 93 workers, according to a WARN Act letter filed with the Nebraska Department of Labor on 4 November. Manufacturing moves to the company’s Bern, Kansas plant and other sites, while Pawnee City becomes a warehouse and distribution hub for the Midwest. Layoffs begin in a 14-day window from 1 February 2027.

Key Facts

Company: Alphia Inc, formerly C.J. Foods
Country: United States
Industry: Pet food and pet treat manufacturing
Category: Contract and private label production, dry pet food and treats
Event: Production ends at Pawnee City, Nebraska; site becomes a warehouse and distribution hub
Jobs: 93 layoffs notified to the Nebraska Department of Labor on 4 November 2026
Date: 2026-11-04
Location: Pawnee City, Nebraska, United States
Source: Nebraska Public Media, 5 November 2026; eFeedLink/KOLN, 6 November 2026

What Happened

Alphia notified the Nebraska Department of Labor on Wednesday 4 November that 93 employees at its Pawnee City plant will be laid off, with the cuts running through a 14-day window starting 1 February 2027. The plant itself does not close. It is being converted into a warehouse and distribution centre serving the US Midwest.

Manufacturing is consolidating into the company’s Bern, Kansas facility about 25 miles south, and into other Alphia plants. The company said some Pawnee City employees may be able to transfer to Bern but has not said how many jobs will exist at Bern or at the reworked Nebraska site. In a statement reported by Nebraska Public Media, Alphia described the move as part of a broader effort to strengthen its manufacturing network, with capital investment across several facilities to add capacity.

The Pawnee City plant has run since 1985 and is the town’s only industrial employer, in a community of roughly 850 people. Alphia operates seven manufacturing sites, four warehouse and logistics centres and one ingredient milling facility in the United States.

Background

Alphia took its current name after a 2022 merger and produces premium pet food and treats for other companies’ brands, which makes its plant network a shared asset for a long list of labels rather than the property of one brand. That structure explains why a single site decision has wider reach than the headcount suggests: brands that never appear in the company’s own marketing can still be running on its lines.

The consolidation also lands in a weak stretch for Nebraska manufacturing. The state has lost 4,600 manufacturing jobs over the past 12 months, equal to 4.5% of its manufacturing workforce, according to an index kept by Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, while the US as a whole added about 40,000 manufacturing jobs over the same period. The Alphia notice follows more than 3,000 layoffs at the Tyson Foods plant in Lexington in January and about half a dozen smaller industrial notices since.

Industry Context

US pet food capacity has been built out heavily since 2020, and co-manufacturers are now doing the part of the cycle that follows a build-out: shutting the least efficient lines and moving volume into fewer, larger plants. Pawnee City, a 1980s-vintage site in a small town, is the kind of asset that loses that contest. Retaining it as a distribution node keeps freight reach into the Midwest without keeping its production overhead.

For brands that place large private label pet products volumes with Alphia, the practical questions are line qualification and lead times. Moving a SKU between plants usually means a new production trial, a fresh stability check and, for some retailers, a supplier audit, all of which take months. Small brands that place a pet treats bulk order in the low thousands of units are the most exposed, because they have the least leverage to reserve the remaining lines. Companies that treat contract capacity as a commodity input tend to discover these costs late.

Market & Business Impact

The shift concentrates dry pet food and treat production into fewer buildings at a moment when retailers are pushing more of their range into private label and when treat buyers want short runs of differentiated shapes and formulas. Fewer, larger plants generally improve cost per tonne and worsen changeover flexibility, which matters most to small brands running short orders.

Brands that sell on made in usa pet products and print a plant address on the pack now have one fewer site to cite, and the remaining Midwest capacity sits in fewer buildings. For the dog food manufacturer companies that buy time on these lines, the network is not shrinking in tonnage but it is shrinking in options.

Employment effects are local and sharp: 93 jobs in a town of 850 is a meaningful share of local wage income, and the site’s conversion to storage removes the highest-wage roles at the plant. Regional politicians and state development offices tend to notice that faster than the national market does.

Companies & Brands Involved

Alphia, formed from the merger that folded C.J. Foods into its current structure, is the operator and employer. The Bern, Kansas plant becomes the main regional production site for the consolidated volume. Nebraska Public Media first reported the WARN filing; eFeedLink carried the trade summary.

Data & Evidence

The WARN letter covers 93 positions, filed 4 November 2026, with layoffs in a 14-day window from 1 February 2027. The Pawnee City plant has operated since 1985. Bern, Kansas is about 25 miles away. Alphia’s US footprint is seven manufacturing facilities, four warehouse and logistics centres and one ingredient milling facility. Nebraska lost 4,600 manufacturing jobs in the 12 months to early November 2026, or 4.5% of its manufacturing workforce, against a national gain of about 40,000 manufacturing jobs.

What This Means for the Pet Industry

The US contract manufacturing base is no longer expanding plant by plant; it is being reshaped into fewer, larger sites with separate distribution nodes. For brands, the durable lesson is that private label pet products supply is only as flexible as the least flexible plant in the network, and that a supplier’s WARN notice is an early warning about a brand’s own production schedule.

Key Takeaways

Alphia will lay off 93 workers at its Pawnee City, Nebraska plant, with cuts in a 14-day window from 1 February 2027, under a WARN notice filed on 4 November 2026.
Production moves to the company’s Bern, Kansas plant and other sites, while Pawnee City becomes a Midwest warehouse and distribution hub.
The plant has operated since 1985 and is the only industrial employer in a town of about 850 people.
Alphia runs seven US manufacturing facilities, four warehouse and logistics centres and one ingredient milling facility, mostly making pet food and treats for other companies’ brands.
Nebraska has lost 4,600 manufacturing jobs in 12 months, or 4.5% of its manufacturing workforce, while the US added about 40,000 manufacturing jobs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Alphia announce?

It notified Nebraska on 4 November 2026 that production at its Pawnee City plant will end and 93 employees will be laid off, with the site converted into a warehouse and distribution centre.

When do the layoffs take effect?

During a 14-day window starting 1 February 2027, according to the WARN notice.

Where does the production go?

Mainly to Alphia’s Bern, Kansas plant about 25 miles south, and to other company facilities. Alphia has not said how many jobs will exist at Bern afterwards.

Who is Alphia?

A US pet food and treat manufacturer formerly known as C.J. Foods, which took its current name after a 2022 merger. It makes premium pet food for other companies’ brands as well as its own production.

Does this affect brands that buy private label pet products from Alphia?

It can. Moving a product between plants usually requires a new production trial, stability checks and sometimes a retailer supplier audit, so buyers should confirm which line their SKU will run on and what the requalification timeline is.

Can brands place bulk orders elsewhere?

Yes, but US pet food co-manufacturing capacity is consolidating into fewer larger plants, so alternative capacity for short runs of pet treats is tighter than it was two years ago.

Sources

Primary – Nebraska Public Media, Pet food manufacturer laying off nearly 100 workers in Pawnee City, 5 November 2026, https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/pet-food-manufacturer-laying-off-nearly-100-workers-in-pawnee-city/
Secondary – eFeedLink (KOLN), US pet food maker Alphia to end production at Nebraska’s Pawnee City plant, cutting 93 jobs, 6 November 2026, https://www.efeedlink.com/articles/us-pet-food-maker-alphia-to-end-production-at-nebraskas-pawnee-city-plant-cutting-93-jobs

Alphia Ends Nebraska Production, Cutting 93 Jobs as Pawnee City Becomes a Warehouse Hub

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