One of the Tri-Cities’ largest employers, which has already cut hundreds of local workers in the past year, is about to cut roughly 400 more jobs across its global workforce.

Lamb Weston recently released its annual report of its 2025 fiscal year, which ended in June, as well as the outlook for 2026. And while the french fry producer announced it returned to growth in the second half of the recent fiscal year, its Focus to Win strategic plan lays out $250 million in cost savings that includes cutting unfilled positions and active workers making up 4% of its workforce.

“We expect that these cost savings and working capital improvements together with lower levels of capital expenditures will help drive improved profitability and cash flow,” said president and CEO Mike Smith in a statement. “Our Focus to Win plan prioritizes markets and channels where we are well positioned to win for the long-term and doing what our team does better than anyone else – delivering the performance that has made Lamb Weston an industry leader through category leading innovation, exceptional products and customer-centric service.”

A company spokesperson declined to respond to questions from the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business about whether planned cost savings would affect operations in the Mid-Columbia.

Eagle, Idaho-based Lamb Weston employs roughly 2,700 people in its potato processing facilities, sales and administrative divisions located in the Tri-Cities and surrounding communities, according to the Journal’s 2024 Book of Lists.

The past 12 months were challenging for the company, from the production floor to the board room.

Financially, net sales declined $16.3 million compared to the 2024 fiscal year, with net income falling by $368.1 million compared to the prior year. Those losses were driven by increased manufacturing costs and softening demand from the restaurants the company supplies, among other factors. The company’s North America market saw the greatest losses.

That softening demand and a need to reduce inventory levels led the company to temporarily curtail production. In October 2024, Lamb Weston abruptly shuttered its processing facility in Connell, leaving 375 workers without jobs. Company officials said the closure was necessary due to economic conditions, including a supply and demand imbalance and inflation. It is currently seeking a buyer for the facility.

Among the financial turmoil, Smith was named CEO in December 2024, with prior CEO Tom Werner stepping down. At the beginning of July, the company’s board of directors had a shake up, growing from 11 to 13 members and four of its current members stepping down.

The board shifts were reportedly a result of Lamb Weston bowing to pressure from shareholders Jana Partners and Continental Grain Co. to further restructure as the company seeks to come back from shrinking sales, according to Yahoo Finance. 

“Jana Partners has been calling for a change in the company board’s since it took a minority stake in Lamb Weston last year and had criticized the business for what it called ‘self-inflicted missteps’ in terms of its performance,” Yahoo Finance reported. 

Looking to the 2026 fiscal year, the company projects that it will have net sales of $6.35 billion to $6.55 billion, with stronger sales in the second half of the fiscal year. Lamb Weston anticipates consumers to be impacted by macroeconomic and geopolitical factors but “believes customers and consumers will continue to prioritize french fries as a menu and at-home item, and its outlook assumes that global restaurant traffic will remain approximately even with fiscal 2025 levels.”

The company’s outlook does not take into account additional impacts of evolving trade policies, including additional changes in tariffs and retaliatory countermeasures.