A Japanese candy company that makes HI-CHEW will expand its operations in Orange County, spending $136 million with plans to add more than 200 jobs in Mebane.
Morinaga & Co. was founded in Tokyo in 1899. The company and its subsidiaries produce and distribute products such as milk caramel, chocolate, cookies and frozen desserts.
In 2013, the company established its American subsidiary and selected North Carolina for its first manufacturing site outside of Asia. It opened the Mebane plant in 2015 to produce the fruity candy HI-CHEW. Dramatically increased demand for the candy led to the company’s expansion decision.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the government officials who supported the investment,” said Masaki Matsumoto, senior executive officer and general manager of the overseas business division for Morinaga Japan, in a statement. “We aim to become a company that continues to grow here in North Carolina.”
A performance-based grant of $100,000 from the One North Carolina Fund will help facilitate Morinaga’s expansion, contingent on a company capital investment of $115.4 million, the creation of new jobs and local government support.
The fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All grants require a matching grant from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met.
Morinaga’s new positions will include production, quality assurance, and maintenance and support staff. Although the wages will vary for each position that is subject to the grant agreement, the average annual salary for these positions is $67,075 with the potential to create an annual payroll impact in the community of more than $2.6 million per year.
Orange County’s overall average annual wage is $66,979.
In October 2023, Gov. Roy Cooper and Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders led a North Carolina delegation to Japan to the annual Southeastern United States/Japan Economic Development Conference in Tokyo to recruit industry and meet with business leaders and others.
Gov. Cooper and Secretary Sanders met with senior executives of Morinaga during that trip to discuss the company’s North Carolina operations and opportunities for further investment.
Since the governor’s trade mission to Japan, North Carolina has seen 4,379 new jobs announced from Japanese companies including Toyota, Fujifilm Diosynth, Dai Nippon Printing, Kyowa Kirin, and today, Morinaga.
Japan is one of the nation’s largest trading partners and home to 225 companies with large presences in North Carolina.