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Candy manufacturer SweetWorks Confections, whose brands include Niagara Chocolates, plans to close its Cheektowaga plant, eliminating 160 jobs, according to a notice filed with the state Labor Department.
The plant, at 3470-3500 Genesee St., near Union Road, will close Sept. 19, according to the filing. The notice did not provide details about the reasons for the plant’s planned shutdown. SweetWorks’ human resources director did not return a message to comment.
A subsidiary of Switzerland-based Migros has owned SweetWorks since 2014.
SweetWorks traces its roots to 1956, when John and Angel Terranova opened Niagara Candy and Ice Cream on Buffalo’s Lower West Side.
As Niagara Chocolates, the company grew into the region’s largest candy manufacturer, and later moved to Cheektowaga. The family-owned business was a pioneer in using chocolates as a vehicle for fundraising projects by local schools and nonprofit organizations.
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The business became known as SweetWorks in 2002, following the merger of three companies: Niagara Chocolates, Whetstone Candy in St. Augustine, Fla., and Oak Leaf Confections in Toronto. The following year, SweetWorks acquired the Sixlets brand from Hershey.
At the time of the deal with Migros in 2014, The Buffalo News reported SweetWorks’ local production plant had a workforce of about 200 people. A 2022 article in Candy Industry magazine said Niagara Chocolates products were being sold by 25 retailers in the United States, Canada and Switzerland.
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