New York City, New York-based Kind, a food company founded in 2004 by billionaire Daniel Lubetzky to manufacture and distribute healthy snacks like fruit nut bars and protein-based grain clusters, announced that it would be laying off 90 workers representing approximately 15% of its employees by the end of 2019. The layoffs will affect team members in the field marketing, field sales and account management teams. It is unknown if the cuts are related to the pull back in the company’s Fruit Bites product which has been removed from store shelves, but remains available online.
Kind outsources its snack bar manufacturing and runs its marketing and business development from Manhattan where most of the layoffs will occur. A company spokesperson noted that the “job cuts are the result of changes at the company designed to help it better manage key accounts, expand its retail coverage and attract new consumers to the brand.” The company recently named a new CEO, Mike Barkley, to replace Lubetzky who will assume the position of Executive Chairman. Kind recently made its first acquisition.
The unusually secretive McLean, Virginia-based Mars, the world’s largest candymaker acquired 40% of Kind in 2017 for an undisclosed amount.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?