By Owen Pfeiffer
BUFFALO — Rich Products is cutting about 60 jobs in Buffalo as part of a global restructuring that will see roughly 380 people leave the family-owned food company. At the same time, it keeps putting money into its Niagara Street campus and the historic buildings around it.
The Buffalo cuts were first reported by Matt Glynn of The Buffalo News, who wrote Thursday that “Rich Products said it will cut 60 employees’ jobs in Buffalo as part of a broader transformation.” Buffalo Business First also reported the 60 Buffalo cuts, alongside about 50 new Buffalo roles.
The CEO’s explanation
In a message to employees posted Friday, CEO Richard Ferranti said the company spent the past year talking with customers, suppliers and employees, and heard the same criticism.
“We are not fast enough. Decisions take too long,” Mr. Ferranti wrote. “Often, layers and processes get in the way of speed and performance, rather than enabling success.”
“To be transparent, this means that approximately 380 people across our global organization will be departing,” he wrote. He also said Rich’s is creating “nearly 200 new, open and evolved roles across our company.” The new structure takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Mr. Ferranti put the changes in the context of the company’s Vision 2030 goal “to become a $10 billion global family business,” as well as pressure from technology and artificial intelligence. “We don’t get to decide whether change happens,” he wrote. “We only get to decide how we respond and anticipate what’s next.”
The company’s published FAQ answers two questions that tend to come up in Buffalo whenever a hometown employer restructures. “Rich’s is not for sale,” it says, and the company is not leaving Buffalo: “Rich’s is fully committed to remaining a private, family-owned business, headquartered in Buffalo, NY, for the long term.”
The Niagara Street bet
For the West Side, the more lasting story may be real estate. Rich’s says it is investing about $10 million to move its ROAR Logistics subsidiary to 1120 Niagara St. and to acquire the historic Curtiss Malt House at 1100 Niagara St. It also says it spent more than $3 million on a new Customer Innovation Center at its headquarters campus.
According to Buffalo Rising, developer Douglas Jemal’s Curtiss Malting LLC sold 1100, 1106 and 1110 Niagara St. to Rich’s Jenesis Development LLC in September 2025 for $1.75 million. Mr. Jemal had bought the malt house for $1 million in 2022 and had planned about 50 market-rate apartments there.
Buffalo Rising reported in September that the one-story warehouse at 1106-1110 Niagara has been demolished for the ROAR project. ROAR is moving its headquarters from 535 Exchange St. into the former Oliver Gear complex, Carmina Wood Design is the architect, and the malt house is getting a new roof. In 2025, Rich’s said the move would add about 70 jobs.
The malt house is now in the state’s brownfield program. The Department of Environmental Conservation received a Brownfield Cleanup Program application from Jenesis Development for the “Curtiss Malt House Project” at 1100 Niagara St. (site C915382). The public comment period closed May 22. Sites in the program can qualify for state brownfield tax credits once a cleanup is certified. Rich’s has not publicly said what it plans to do with the malt house.
What to watch
The company has not said which Buffalo departments are affected or whether any of the departures are at the Niagara Street campus. It has also not said how many of the roughly 200 new and evolved roles will be in Buffalo beyond the figure reported by Business First. Rich’s said its St. Simons and Brunswick, Ga., locations employ about 400 people and that it is not leaving that area either.
The Buffalo Chronicle has asked Rich’s for the Buffalo breakdown and for its plans for the Curtiss Malt House.
Featured image: Photo: Andre Carrotflower / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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