Cape Cod Potato Chips is leaving Cape Cod after more than 40 years
Cape Cod Potato Chips will close its Hyannis manufacturing plant in April, eliminating 49 jobs, according to MassFiscal. The facility has operated on Cape Cod for more than four decades and gave the brand its name.
One of Massachusetts’ most recognizable snack brands is shutting down its original home.
The company’s parent, Campbell’s, announced Thursday that production at the Hyannis plant will end and shift to other facilities in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Campbell’s said the Hyannis site now produces only about 4 percent of Cape Cod–branded products and no longer makes financial sense to maintain.
Once the closure is complete, all Cape Cod Chips products will be made outside Massachusetts.
The decision has drawn criticism from business groups and state fiscal watchdogs, who argue it reflects deeper economic problems in the Commonwealth.
“Massachusetts cannot even keep Cape Cod potato chips in Cape Cod,” said Paul Diego Craney, executive director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “When a company whose entire identity is tied to this state decides it no longer makes economic sense to operate here, that should set off alarm bells on Beacon Hill.”
Critics have blamed the closure on what they describe as a high-cost business climate under Governor Maura Healey, citing taxes, regulation, and slow private-sector job growth. Supporters of the administration have not publicly linked the shutdown to state policy.
What is not in dispute is the outcome: a Massachusetts-born brand will no longer manufacture in Massachusetts, and 49 local jobs in Hyannis will disappear this spring.
