Consultants Forum Advertise
Subscribe
Close

  • Free for qualified executives and consultants to industry

  • Receive quarterly issues of Area Development Magazine and special market report and directory issues

Subscribe Now
Renew

Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Morinaga America Foods Expands Mebane, North Carolina, Operations

07/22/2024
Morinaga America Foods, Inc., a subsidiary of the Japanese confectionary company Morinaga & Co., Ltd., plans to expand its operations in Mebane, North Carolina. The $136 million project is expected to create 204 jobs in Orange County.

The investment will allow the company to meet increased demand for HI-CHEW candy, a long-standing best-seller in Asia and the U.S.

"I would like to express my gratitude to the government officials who supported the investment,” said Masaki Matsumoto, Senior Executive Officer and General Manager of the Overseas Business Division for Morinaga Japan. “We aim to become a company that continues to grow here in North Carolina."

A performance-based grant of $100,000 from the One North Carolina Fund will support the project, contingent on a company capital investment of $115.4 million, the creation of 40 jobs, and local government support. The OneNC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All OneNC grants require a matching grant from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met.

“We welcome this renewed commitment to our state by Morinaga,” noted Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “Companies with direct experience of doing business in our state validate our economic strategies when they review their operations and then decide to expand here. We will continue to strengthen the things companies value, like our workforce training programs, so great expansions like this one will keep happening in North Carolina.”

Partnering with the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina on the project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, the Commerce Department’s Division of Workforce Solutions, Orange County Board of Commissioners and Manager’s Office, the City of Mebane, and the Orange County Economic Development Office.

“We are proud that North Carolina continues to have a strong economic relationship with Japan, and that companies like Morinaga employ more than 30,500 North Carolinians every day,” added Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC). “Morinaga’s expansion underscores the company’s commitment to its customers and that North Carolina has the talented and skilled workforce companies like Morinaga need to grow.”

Morinaga & Co and its subsidiaries produce and distribute a wide array of confectionary products that are enjoyed around the world, such as milk caramel, chocolate, cookies, and frozen desserts. Morinaga America, Inc. is the sole marketing and distribution channel of HI-CHEW in the U.S.

Exclusive Research