Dive Brief:
- Mars Food, a business unit of Mars, Inc., is moving its North American headquarters from Los Angeles to Chicago where it will be located across the street from the company’s Wrigley division and Mars global innovation center, reports the Chicago Tribune.
- “Moving the Mars Food North America headquarters to Chicago enables our long-term growth ambitions by bringing us closer to our factories, our customers and other parts of our business,” Caroline Sherman, vice president of corporate affairs for Mars Food North America, wrote in an email to the Chicago Tribune.
- Mars Food’s brand portfolio includes Uncle Ben’s rice, Seeds of Change and Suzi Wan. It’s acquisition of Preferred Brands International, which makes Indian and Asian food products under the Tasty Bite brand, is pending.
Dive Insight:
Not only is Chicago one of America’s premier business metropolises, but the city has long been recognized as the center of the global food industry. Many large consumer packaged goods companies — among them Conagra, Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats division — are based in and around Chicago.
In addition, the city is home to various food-oriented third-party research vendors, such as IRI. By relocating, Mars Foods gains access to plenty of experienced food industry talent as well as thought leadership and analytics activities. Of the 75 employees at the new Chicago-area headquarters, half of them have been hired locally, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The move to Chicago gives Mars an increasingly formidable presence there, locating it alongside the company’s Wrigley division, which it acquired last year. Mars subsequently combined Wrigley with its own chocolate business to form Mars Wrigley Confectionery. Having Mars Foods now in the fold as well could help inspire and facilitate even more cross-divisional innovation.
The move also consolidates much of the food maker’s activities in Illinois, where it already employs about 2,000 people in various offices and manufacturing sites throughout the state. Scalar efficiencies and shared learning are likely to be expected with such a move, too.
Last year, Conagra relocated its headquarters from Omaha, Nebraska to Chicago. President and CEO Sean Connolly commented in a news release that: “Locating our headquarters and our largest business segment in Chicago places us in the heart of one of the world's business capitals and consumer packaged goods centers, enhancing our ability to attract and retain top talent with a focus on brand building and innovation."
With Conagra and now Mars Foods moving to Chicago, it would not be a surprise to see other companies pack up and relocate to the Midwestern city in the future to tap into the many benefits the area offers companies in the increasingly competitive food space.