Want Want Begins Layoffs as Profit Slump Deepens Pressure on Legacy Snack Maker

Hong Kong-listed snack maker Want Want China Holdings Ltd. has begun layoffs and required employees to submit self-evaluation reports as it confronts sliding profits and what its chairman has described as a major operational crisis.

The moves underscore mounting pressure on the traditional food-and-beverage company, which is struggling to adapt its long-established product portfolio to changing consumer demand for healthier snacks and to disruptions in its core wholesale distribution channels.