Netherlands: Mars to invest €100 million in chocolate factory

Chocolate manufacturer Mars has announced that it will invest around €100 million ($110 million) in the expansion of its Veghel plant in the Netherlands over the next 10 years.

In the latest of Mars’s factory expansion announcements, Mars will undergo the six-phased expansion and modernization in order to increase capacity at the plant to manufacture product miniature versions of its brands such as Twix Mix, Mars Mix and pouch bag versions of Galaxy Minstrels and Maltesers.

The investment is set to increase the factory’s production of minis from 25-30% to around 35% of total output by 2015.

Mars Netherlands corporate affairs coordinator Marissa Roodenbur was quoted by ConfectioneryNews as saying: "This is due to the fact that in West Europe calorie intake is trending to lower down and sharing is getting more important. Miniatures are the right answer for that trend”.

She added: "The main objective of the Mars 2025 project is to modernize the factory, create technological innovations, cluster several company divisions and creating an inspiring workplace for our employees".

Founded in 1963 as Mars’s first factory on the European continent, the Veghel plant produces 27 million chocolate bars a day.

Source: Mars