Oberweis Dairy to Close Processing Plant After Filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

April 17, 2024

North Aurora dairy plant will close this summer, resulting in the layoff of 127 workers; fate of ice cream stores uncertain.

Andy Hanacek

Oberweis Dairy Inc. — an Aurora, Ill.-based dairy processor and ice cream shop chain — will shutter its North Aurora, Ill., processing plant, according to local news reports. The news comes just days after the company reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The plant closure will result in 127 workers being laid off, with the first job cuts starting June 11, 2024, according to an Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act filing cited in the news report.

Oberweis Dairy is owned by the family of Illinois state representative Jim Oberweis and is known throughout the region for its milk in glass bottles and chain of ice cream parlors, both harkening back to the mid- to early 20th century in terms of their style and presentation. The company employs approximately 1,100 workers overall, including part-time workers at its ice cream shops, but during the summer, the workforce has grown to more than 1,500 in the past.

In the Chapter 11 filing, the company said it owed more than $4 million to its top 20 creditors, which included Penske Truck Co., food safety company Ecolab and the Cook County Treasurer’s Office.

The dairy business has been open since 1915, and Oberweis opened its first ice cream shop in 1951. The company reportedly has more than 30 stores in Illinois, Missouri, Michigan and Indiana. The future of the company’s ice cream stores was not clear at presstime.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.