Morinaga & Co., the parent organization of Irvine-based Morinaga America Inc., this month completed construction of its second manufacturing facility in the U.S. that will increase the production of its Japanese Hi-Chew candy.
The confectionary company invested $130 million to build a second factory spanning 132,633 square feet near its original facility in North Carolina that currently produces over two billion pieces of Hi-Chew each year. It is also expected to create approximately 200 new jobs.
“This expansion will allow HI-CHEW to scale its operations while creating a bigger opportunity for our Research & Development team to experiment with new crave-worthy flavors,” Morinaga America Chief Executive Teruhiro “Terry” Kawabe said in a statement.
Morinaga aims to have the facility fully operational by October, producing an additional 1.2 billion pieces of candy annually for the U.S. market.
The company recently acquired My/Mochi Ice Cream for $130 million to expand into the frozen dessert category and double sales in the U.S. by 2030.
