Just like in a recipe, it’s necessary to get the spices right in a news story.

John Lindt’s story Friday about the closure of a food processing facility in Firebaugh, resulting in 275 layoffs by the end of 2024, reported that the plant processed garlic.

In fact, according to a spokesperson for Olam Food Ingredients, the plant processes onion and parsley. Olam purchased the plant in 2009, part of the Singapore-based company’s entrance to the Central Valley market.

The company exited the California market for processing tomatoes a few years ago, resulting in the closure of a Lemoore plant and 250 jobs lost.

The Olam spokesperson pointed to “macroeconomic” reasons for shuttering the plant, along with its exit from the U.S parsley market.

Ag industry is in a current downcycle, with investors and growers alike heading or pushed to the exit.

A focus of the original story (since corrected) was about the global garlic market. It was another useful reminder that while Fresno County is the true garlic capital of California and the U.S., China grows about 73% of the global supply.

There are forces at play beyond the fertile San Joaquin Valley, and with them come strategic decisions that have real-world impact on Main Street. We aren’t seeing the first of this, and this latest plant closure doesn’t seem to be the last.