Dive Brief:
- Haribo of America Inc., makers of the gummy bear, will open its first-ever U.S.-based manufacturing facility in South-Eastern Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
- Haribo will invest $242 million in the plant, creating 400 jobs upon the facility’s opening in 2020.
- The Kenosha Area Business Alliance reported that more than $1 billion in capital investment and about 9.5 million square feet of new space will be added to the county.
Dive Insight:
After years of looking for a suitable site in the U.S., Haribo finally settled on Wisconsin. Plans call for it to be one of the nation’s largest confectionery plants, which should increase its presence in the American market.
The company currently has almost 7,000 employees worldwide and produces 100 million gummy bears a day. This plant will help increase those numbers.
Since gummy candy is perceived as better-for-you than chocolate, and consumers seem to be gravitating towards healthier snacks, it only makes sense for Haribo to increase its production of the popular treat.
Nielsen’s latest figures show that consumers spent $21.5 billion on candy in the 52 weeks ending April 30, 2016, an increase of approximately 4% over the past five years. Non-chocolate candy generated $6.7 billion in sales, an increase of 4.7% from a year earlier. That rise was a bigger increase than chocolate saw in the same period, which was only 2%.
According to an article in the National Confectioners Association's Candy & Snack TODAY, the gummy candy segment is worth $1.1 billion in sales, and analysts say it is experiencing unprecedented growth, with 4.3% CAGR. Many manufacturers are spending a lot of money to expand their footprints and offerings, Haribo of America Brand Manager Sangeetha Ragavan told Candy & Snack TODAY.