Cains Foods closing 44-year-old Ayer plant
Cains Foods's production facility in Ayer, just north of the rotary where routes 111 and 2A meet.
Cains Foods, a century-old label for mayonnaise, dressings and sauces, has ended production at its 100-worker plant in Ayer, several years after it was bought by an Illinois company.
The plant stopped production in January, and Cains owner TreeHouse Foods Inc. plans to close the facility entirely by August, a spokesman said Wednesday.
TreeHouse called the closure "the result of ongoing manufacturing network analysis by the company to maintain competitive costs, service levels and product quality." Products that have been made in Ayer will be moved to other production facilities, with no disruption in supply expected.
The Cains brand will continue as a Northeast regional product.
TreeHouse Foods has estimated costs of closing the plant at $6.5 million.
Cains, which started in 1914 as a Boston cheese distributor, was bought for $35 million in 2013 by TreeHouse Foods, which is based in the Chicago area and has more than 16,000 employees worldwide. Cains had operations in Ayer since 1973.
At the time of the sale, TreeHouse said it had no plans to change operations in Ayer.
TreeHouse Foods manufactures packaged foods, such as cereal, condiments and snacks, at more than 50 manufacturing facilities across the United States, Canada and Italy. Several are in New York, but none in New England.
Its products are mainly private labels for retail chains, but it also includes the brand names Del Monte, Naturally Fresh and Flagstone Foods.
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? It is always sad when you get older and time and time again favorites foods get discontinued, bought out, or simply “New and Improved” ((worst words…ever!)) I have used Cains Mayonnaise since my childhood; I’m 68. Now, that is gone. It was the best with great consistency. Now, it is no different than the rest…tasteless and runny…and it is yellow. There is no way this is based off the original recipe. They should take those words off the label. It’s bad enough to sell a horrible replacement, but to lie about it is worse. I will never buy it again.
“Sad in Maine”
Cains Mayonnaise. Horrible texture and flavor, Feb 2023. I haven't used mayo for the last 5 years or so, part of the diet plan. But I need some recently, went back to my lifetime favorite, Cains. Not good. Nine months ahead of expiration date so that wasn't an issue. Soupy, poor flavor, gross.
Then I see right on the front label - "Based" on our original recipe. And "distributed" by some food company in IL. Not 'Made in Illinois', distributed. Which means "Made in China". Hence the supply problem. Avoid this crap, it is nothing at all like the original Cains mayo. Cains is gone.
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