Minnesota's RyKrisp plant, the only one in the world, is closing
A brand of rye cracker that was created in Minnesota more than 100 years ago, and has been produced here since, is coming to an end.
The RyKrisp factory in Minneapolis – which is the brand's only production plant in the world – will shut down come March, the Pioneer Press reports.
A news release from RyKrisp's owners, Nebraska-based ConAgra foods, says it was due to low demand, MPR reports.
Workday Minnesota says most of the workers at the Minneapolis plant have been there for 30 years or longer. They'll get a severance package, and get prioritized hiring opportunities at nearby ConAgra facilities.
According to company history, RyKrisp was first invented in 1899, by a Swedish immigrant baker named Arvid Peterson.
Five years later he named the cracker RyKrisp – a departure from it's Scandanavian name of knäckebröd, meaning "crisp bread," MNopedia says.
In 1922 the company built a plant in Minneapolis to manufacture RyKrisp – and it's been baked in the city ever since, distributed all across the United States.
It was purchased by ConAgra in 2012.
For more history, check out the MNopedia timeline.
