Mars Inc., the food giant that owns the M&M's, Cheez-It and Royal Canin brands, announced plans to invest an estimated $1.4 billion in its U.S. manufacturing and operations footprint in 2027.
The company said that as part of the $1.4 billion commitment, early next year, it will invest more than $34 million to open four new Mars Veterinary Health hospitals: three BluePearl Pet Hospitals, located in in Ellicott City, Maryland, and Austin and Katy, Texas, and a Banfield Pet Hospital in Wilmington, North Carolina. The company said the facilities would provide expanded access to advanced emergency and specialty veterinary care in those communities. They are expected to create up to 195 new jobs overall.
The announcement also outlined projects underway this year, including:
- The Trü Frü brand is expanding operations in Salt Lake City, where it has been headquartered since 2025. Mars invested $60 million to build two dedicated manufacturing lines for Trü Frü within the company's Salt Lake City factory, a $240 million site that opened last year to produce Nature's Bakery products. In addition to the factory's ability to produce more than 1 billion Nature's Bakery snack bars each year, the site will now have the capacity to produce 17 million Trü Frü frozen products annually.
- Mars Waco, Texas, facility is commemorating 50 years of operations this month. With $165 million invested in the site since 2024, recent capital projects are heavily focused on enhancing energy efficiency and operational excellence. The facility manufactures over 56 billion pieces of Snickers, Starburst and Skittles candies each year, and leads cutting-edge recipe development and format innovation for the brands. The facility recently powered the rollout of the all-new Snickers Xtreme Almond bar and Starburst Sour innovations.
- A $49 million investment in Mars wet pet food facility in Columbus, Ohio, is bringing the production of its rapidly growing Temptations Lickable Treats to the U.S. The investment introduces technology advancements including modern mixing and filling capabilities and will create capacity to produce over 400 million Lickable Treat pouches annually. Mars has invested a total of $162 million into the site since 2022.
Mars says it employs some 80,000 workers in the U.S. across more than 60 factories, research labs and offices, as well as more than 2,000 veterinary clinics and hospitals. It added 15 new facilities in the last year through its acquisition of Kellanova.
