Candy giant Mars to invest US$2 billion more in U.S. manufacturing through 2026

Chocolate bars from Mars are pictured in a store in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. (AP / Martin Meissner)

Candy and snacks giant Mars on Tuesday announced plans to invest US$2 billion more in its U.S. operations through next year to bolster the company’s ongoing efforts to expand manufacturing in the country.

The Twix and MilkyWay chocolate maker has already invested more than $6 billion in U.S. manufacturing in the last five years and the new funding will support a $240 million facility for Nature’s Bakery in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The new facility, opening on Wednesday, will create over 230 new jobs in the region and have the capacity to produce about one billion candy bars every year, Mars said.

“The U.S. is our biggest and most important market, and a key engine of growth for the long term – not only through our legacy manufacturing footprint but also through the expansion of strategic acquisitions like Nature’s Bakery, which is already scaling quickly," said Mars CFO Claus Aagaard.

Many companies are doubling down on their U.S. production capabilities after the Trump administration imposed sweeping import tariffs aimed at narrowing the trade deficit and prompting multinational firms to bring manufacturing back to America.

About 94 per cents of Mars products sold in the U.S. are produced locally.

The company announced a $36 billion deal to buy Pringles maker Kellanova K.N in August, and has received approval from U.S. antitrust regulators while EU counterparts opened a full-scale investigation last month.

(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)