Confectionery giant Mars is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its chocolate factory in Viersen, Germany.
The facility, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, is one of Mars' largest chocolate biscuit bar production sites in the world, the company added.
It produces around 10 million pieces of chocolate products every day and employs more than 320 people.
Mars has been producing Twix, Balisto and Celebrations confectionery at the Viersen site since 1979.
The products from the facility are exported to 30 countries across the world.
It takes around 1.5 hours to produce a single bar along a 300-metre-long production line, from the dough mixer to the final packaging, Mars noted.
Investment Plans
Mars plans to increase the production volume at the site to 70,000 tonnes by 2026/2027.
The company plans to invest in a new packaging line at the end of 2024 to step up production.
"We are investing €40 million in the modernisation of our plant in Viersen over four years until 2026 to make production more efficient and sustainable," said Evelina Wagner, managing director of Mars Confectionery Supply GmbH.
Wagner added, "We are also investing in the ergonomics of the workplace on the production lines and in more sustainable production. We are very proud that our volumes are growing and that we are significantly reducing our factory's energy requirements and emissions at the same time. This contributes to our global Mars goal of achieving net-zero emissions along our entire value chain by 2050."
In January of this year, Mars announced an investment of $237 million (€216.3 million) in a new baking facility for its Nature's Bakery brand, located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
