production supervisor

production operator

maintenance mechanic

truck driver

warehouse worker

Darigold

The equipment is all from the early 90s. The manufacturers do not even make the spare parts anymore and all replacements have to be fabricated or take many weeks lead time to obtain. The management is more likely to ask the engineers to zip tie a piece on and make a small adjustment so the equipment can get back to running. They give almost no time for engineers to properly investigate and resolve problems. Management also gives no time for proper preventive maintenance to be performed on any equipment. Some of the equipment is the oldest in the world, and the company decides to ignore the manufactures million-dollar discounts on more modern fillers. Spare parts that can be ordered are not kept on hand in proper quantities and therefore no real fix of problems can be done. All major fixes that need to be performed get forgotten or ignored once the machinery gets back to working. This leads to other equipment wearing out or consistent quick fixes by several different engineers or operators. 

Engineers are not provided equipment specific training, and instead must rely on user manuals that are not properly organized or stored. Most information in user manuals that are very old and outdated due to so many changes being done to the machines. Everything is an unorganized mess. Most all procedures have become tribal knowledge and unionized operators are not willing to pass on the best tips for fear of losing their bid jobs. 

The management is poorly structured onsite. Multiple managers will micro-manage the supervisor on every shift. Each manager has their own pet project and will want the supervisor to zero in on that alone. Most of the pet projects are concerned with how to get equipment to work properly. Management is also quick to work short staffed and instead of utilizing any potential extra staff for sanitation duties, it will quickly cut overtime and ask operators to volunteer to go home. Cleaning tasks that are specified tend to be given with general direction and vague pictures. All information is disseminated through several channels and no clear concise communication/instruction is ever given. 

There is an extreme Us Vs Them culture there, and the upper management is doing little to combat this. There is too much focus on creating write-ups and handing out points. There is not enough focus on wanting to take care of the team and promote a united working culture. 


Overall I Love the management team here, I have mad respect for my team, and department, they really bust their humps. It’s a great crew.

Benefits are really good, the compensation is on the low side for management members.

It would be nice if Darigold got with the times and paid for business trips and training, instead of having employees pay for it and then reimbursing them. That’s just not how things are done anymore.

When originally hired I was met with challenges from union workers but that was to be expected being the new person in charge of the department.
The previous plant manager was an amazing support system.
Now that there’s a new plant manager, I’m finding it very difficult to perform my job due to lack of support. 
The continuous increase in work duties that are expected to be taken on in addition to the ones already piled on us is becoming an issue. 
 There aren’t enough hours in the day to complete the insane work load they keep adding to our plates.
This is making a work life balance impossible and the expectations are starting to feel unobtainable.  Extremely stressful, and moral is down, zero increase in compensation after being forced to take on more and more tasks.

Proper training would also be great, I know I had zero training. Had I known all the extra things they would add to the work load I would have asked for better compensation.

I’ve noticed we have lost 8 employees in my position recently throughout plants all over and spots are not being filled. I’m wondering if it’s due to what I’m experiencing currently.

I’d like to see the disciplinary process for employees who can not perform or choose not perform their duties be taken seriously.
I spend half my day putting out fires among employees, due to a team member not doing their actual job. 
When I try to perform the discipline process I get shot down, and therefor the team member that is causing the fires, gets away with what ever they want. My hands are tied and that makes it extremely hard to perform my duties as the head of the department.

I’d love to see upper management support lower management in their choices for their departments, Especially when it’s justified.

Other than that, it’s been a wonderful experience I’d recommend Darigold as an employer.





Here is my review of the Darigold Sunnyside plant.
If you like to analyze and study facts you will be called a nerd, geek or a dork. So you are either a social misfit or a part of a males anatomy. 
You will also find out if you work at Sunnyside that HR will not address these derogatory remarks. If you present an issue of harassment or offensive behavior. Nothing will be done or be taken to a higher level. You will also find that only certain managers are asked to perform and they are the ones that are not in the good ole boys network. The person in charge of the site will tell you that they have done these things a hundred time so do it this way. There is no listening to new ideas or suggestions. It is a do as I say management style. Throughput is most important for this site. Our safety record was fantastic until they changed up top personal here. Now it is all about production throughput numbers and safety is on the back burner. Safety is mentioned, but it is just lip service for the employees. The site is dirty and the locker rooms are a mess. Moral is low due to the equipment being in need of repair or replacement. The maintenance group is never held accountable. Darigold is more worried about the mechanics becoming unionized than making them maintain and repair the equipment. This is a stressful place to work and you are always watching you back if you are not a good ole boy. I would look elsewhere for employment, unless you have no home life and like to be called 24/7. 
Just remember my words, what happens at Sunnyside stays at Sunnyside.

This was a couple years ago. I was hired as a Maintenance Tech. During my interview I made it very clear that I had a strong background in welding but not maintenance and I was told it wasn't a problem and that I would be trained. 
I was also told that every few months I would have a performance review. They pretty much lied about everything. I was pretty much assigned to do everything the other maintenance techs didn't want to do, like painting or fixing steam leaks.  During the 6 months I was there, I was assigned very little work via the work order system they use. This occurred to the extent that I was actually made fun of for begging to sweep the metal shavings off the floor when one of the other maintenance members was done using the drill press. 

Within 6 months, they have to either keep you or let you go. I don't think I was ever really going to be hired. No performance reviews and no warning, I was pulled into the office, let go and escorted off the property. Coincidently my wife was in the ER with pregnancy issues.  

There are definitely happy employees there as well but I think I got a bad deal by bad management.  It's ridiculous to hire someone with the promise of on the job training and then just use them and let them go. They are almost always hiring for a maintenance position because they just keep using people. 

If you apply to a maintenance position, YOU WILL BE USED- THEY WON'T TRAIN YOU. YOU WILL JUST DO THE WORK THE UNION GUYS AREN'T WILLING TO DO. THEY WILL LET YOU GO -- don't waste your time. 

I started at one site and was very impressed and happy to work with Darigold. The trainers were helpful and available, there was a great work/life balance, and the environment was very open and friendly. 
I transferred to another site, and it was instantly different in a bad way. I was never told about the transfer and had to beg to get start dates and times. I suggested using Teams for communication, but was told a strict "no" with no reason given. And was chastised for not communicating enough, even though there was no method besides a group-wide email. I pointed out that the dilution calculations were wrong, they said it had to be approved up the ladder, and then I was told that we would continue to do it the wrong way because "that's how we've always done it".
I was told that I could either switch to night shift or find a new job. I became outspoken when I was told that I had to time each task I did and record it for my day supervisor since she would not stay late enough to talk. This resulted in allegations raised against me, no way to even know what I was being accused of, and let go all within the space of a week. 
The company cut its 401K from a 9% match to a 5% match with the reasoning that "we are still better than most places". No other reason.

Darigold is a diverse company with multiple independent business units, so I can only speak for the one I work in, but I am overall impressed with the company and feel confident I can invest in my own future here.  The top tier management at my location has very positive vision and goals, and  over half of of the supporting and department level managers are focused and aligned in a way that builds a positive culture.  The third tier supervisor ranks are overall green, but the all have the right spirit.  This spirit soars far above any negative in making Darigold a winning workplace where I feel any employee who chooses to can advance their career and reap just rewards. 

The biggest downsides, ranked from least to most significant are:  1) A level of disconnect between Corporate and the operating plants.   2) Pay is below scale and non-monetary benefits packages are extremely poor or outdated.  3) The Labor Unions present in the plant create a toxic and hostile environment which hinders excellence in performance among their own workforces (and subsequently affects the ultimate outcomes.

I learned an impressive amount working at Darigold and was able to really solidify my grasp and understanding of network engineering on a deep, professional level over the two years that I worked there. When I started I was knowledgeable but had not had as many trials by fire. Darigold gave me that in spades. Being a 24 hour operation meant that there were plenty of sleepless nights working to resolve an issue only to be up at 7 or 8 to provide a post-mortem and RCA. It also wasn't uncommon for me to have to fly halfway across the northwest for a project that had only come up a few weeks prior. Direct management was very attentive and I worked under the beet manager I've possibly ever had at this company, but it felt like he was constantly fighting with upper management for fair treatment of his team, and every time he was able to claim some small victory for us, they would claw it back and more. I was regularly working 60-80 hours weeks and, being salary, was not compensated accordingly. I would not recommend working here if you have other options, but it does have the potential to be a great stepping stone if you can put up with senior management's chicanery.

A typical day at work was to come in and find out what orders were needing to be done that day.  We would run the order, take readings for the lab, check to make sure that the date being stamped, was correct, make sure the product was up to the standards of who placed the order. I was usually asked by management to function in a trainer/area lead position.  I learned how to check for bacteria, how to interact with people of different traditions, cultures, and value.  I had facilitator training. Management would come by to make sure we were running product at a pace that was wanted for production. My co-workers would come to me for advice or to trouble-shoot problems they would have with the machines.  The hardest part of my job was adjusting to the different styles of management for the department supervisors sometimes within minutes (i.e. one would come by and tell you to do something one way and then a few minutes later another supervisor would come by and tell you to do it another way.) The most enjoyable part of my job was seeing the rewards of a job well done.

Worked there about 10 months. Consistent predictable repetitive work hauling milk products in a 53' refer. Stable job hauling in-demand products. Few surprises but horrible hours required. No chance of weekends off for many years. Extremely underpaid for a CDL driver starting at $18 hr. at the Boise, ID location. Other sister city union plants paid $26 hr. or so for the same exact job. You can start at 3 AM and deliver to stores like Walmart and Costco, or linehaul swap trailers over the Blue Mountains / Cabbage Hill (chains when snow) and back every day until 1-2 AM. I rarely got enough sleep. They advertise "newer equipment" but don't believe it. Most refers are falling apart. Trucks were bare bones equipped and often tired. There was good camaraderie with other drivers there that will look after each other. Good place for newer CDL drivers to get refer experience. Quite a bit of turnover there.

A typical day at work is the same as any other job, you come in, catch up on the past few ours, then take over for your shift. It was a moderately stressful job, with  lot on the shoulders for one person. I learned a lot about machinery and the advance technology that processing and packaging is going to. Management is fair as long as there isn't too much to worry about, if they are really worried about something they will not put anyone on top of their lists, they will make you worry about your own training or progression. The workplace culture is amazing, you can get  long with anyone as long as you do your job and do what is right. The hardest part is learning how to keep up with multiple machines that tend to breakdown often, and learn how to make them run again without waiting on maintenance. The most enjoyable part would be the people you get to work with, everyone there works as a team as long as the person they are working for will do as much for them as they would for the other.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production supervisor 2 salaries reported	$82,601 per year
Production operator 1 salary reported	$27.74 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 3 salaries reported	$30.79 per hour
Truck driver 3 salaries reported	$30.75 per hour
Warehouse worker 3 salaries reported	$25.37 per hour

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