Morinaga & Co. plans to build a new manufacturing facility in the US to boost production of its Japanese Hi-Chew sweets brand in the country.
The company's US branch, Morinaga America, intends to invest more than $130m in the new plant, which will be situated in Mebane, North Carolina.
Construction is expected to begin in October, while the site is predicted to be operational by January 2027.
In a statement, the group said the new factory will help it “meet the growing demand for Hi-Chew products across all US distribution channels”.
More than 200 new jobs will be made at the new site, the company said, including production, maintenance and quality assurance roles.
The new, 132,633-square-foot plant in Mebane will be Morinaga's second facility in North Carolina, allowing it to process “hundreds of tons of Hi-Chew candies every year”.
Morinana’s existing site in the region opened in 2015. It manufactures the majority of the Hi-Chew products for the North American market, with its production capacity of over two billion pieces a year.
Teruhiro Kawabe, the president and CEO of Morinaga’s American leg, said: “Hi-Chew has been steadfast in growing its market share in the US non-chocolate [sweets] category and has achieved 20% year-over-year growth since 2018.
"With this tremendous brand growth year over year, we are eager to maximise our production output to continue providing new, innovative Hi-Chew products to consumers and brand fans nationwide."
Hi-Chew’s products are sold to US retailers such as Kroger and Walmart, as well as Canada through Costco and Amazon. The artificially fruit-flavoured sweets come in a range of flavours, including kiwi, dragon fruit, blueberry, apple and cola.
The chewy candies are also sold in its domestic market in Japan, as well as the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong.
Tokyo-headquartered conglomerate Morinaga owns five food business subsidiaries in Japan, including frozen desserts group Morinaga Angel Dessert Co., and biscuits, sweets and chocolates maker Takasaki Morinaga Co., which also produces Hi-Chew for its home market.
It also sells energy gels under the Chargel brand in the US, as well as In Jelly in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
