Mars Wrigley boosts local chocolate factory

Mars Wrigley Australia has bolstered its local manufacturing capability with a $300,000 investment, to bring new technologies to its chocolate factory in Ballarat, Victoria. The investment will enable Mars Wrigley to produce M&M’s Pretzel locally, bringing the treat to Australia for the first time. The investment also expands the capability for the Ballarat facility to create filled M&M’s and explore more Australian-made innovations for M&M’s.

The Ballarat factory currently has the capacity to produce over five billion M&M’s per year, with M&M’s Pretzel the latest addition to its local production line. The equipment upgrade is part of a broader $37 million investment Mars Wrigley Australia has committed to in 2020, enabling the manufacturer to continue to upgrade the factory to futureproof and advance its local manufacturing capability.

The investment follows the Ballarat factory’s 40th anniversary, which it celebrated in November 2019, and builds on the $14 million invested into the factory to maintain and upgrade its operations in 2018.

Andrew Leakey, General Manager of Mars Wrigley Australia, stated that the company is dedicated to continuing to support Australia’s manufacturing sector. “This latest project is part of our long-term ambition to continue to drive and develop our core bitesize brands that we manufacture locally in Ballarat.”

The Ballarat factory employs more than 350 associates and produces a range of chocolate brands, including Maltesers, Milky Way, M&M’s, Mars, Pods and now M&M’s Pretzel.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/M. Dykstra