Jelly Belly to close North Chicago plant in October

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. (WLS) -- The Jelly Belly plant in North Chicago is set to close in October,

The company's owner, Chicago-based Ferrara Candy, says it's moving production to a different facility.

The closure will impact 66 jobs and Ferrara says it's hopeful those employees will move to other facilities in the Chicago area.

Ferrara said in a statement, "Last week, Ferrara announced the difficult decision to end manufacturing operations at our Jelly Belly plant in North Chicago, Illinois. After careful review of the current volumes produced here, we are moving our manufacturing into another facility, and the final possible day of plant production will be October 11.

"We are focused on helping our North Chicago team members. For our 66 impacted employees, we are hopeful they will stay with Ferrara in different positions and are offering the opportunity to move to open roles in our five other Chicagoland manufacturing facilities.

"We anticipate no impact to the Jelly Belly brand, our products or service to our customers. Jelly Belly remains a critical component of our growth trajectory."