Maker of HI-CHEW candy is building a 2nd NC plant. Here’s what it plans for Mebane site
The story was updated on Sept. 18, 2024.
The Japanese maker of a popular fruity candy secured local incentives worth $2.9 million Tuesday to help expand its operations in Mebane, adding 204 more jobs on the Orange County side of the city.
Morinaga & Co. announced in July it will invest around $136 million into a second factory alongside the site it opened in 2016. Both facilities will exclusively produce HI-CHEW, a small, individually wrapped chewy candy comparable to Starburst or taffy. Morinaga introduced HI-CHEW to American consumers 15 years ago, and the company says its U.S. sales have risen 20% annually since 2018.
The company is on target to run out of capacity at the Mebane location in five years at its current rate of growth, attorney Steve LaSota told the Orange County Board of Commissioners at a Sept. 17 public hearing.
Construction will begin in October, with operations to start in early 2027. The second factory will include 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space, roughly double the size of the existing plant and doubling the number of jobs.
The company now has 204 workers in Mebane, a rapidly growing city of around 20,000 people split between Alamance and Orange counties. Its population has risen from 11,400 residents in 2010, U.S. Census Bureau data shows.
“The important thing and the bottom line is these jobs will create family-sustaining income for families in North Carolina and across the state,” N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders said at the gathering of local, state and company leaders in July.
Local, state incentives for growth
The state awarded Morinaga a $100,000 grant through the One North Carolina Fund for its latest expansion. The N.C. Community College System will also support the training of workers.
On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Commissioners voted 6-0 to approve a new economic incentive agreement that reduces Morinaga’s property tax burden for five years if the company meets specific goals:
▪ Add 204 employees by 2030. The full-time jobs will pay $48,912 a year on average and offer health care and other employee benefits.
▪ Add $127 million to the county’s real and personal property tax values by 2028.
▪ Morinaga will keep up to 75% of the new property tax revenues generated by its investment each year for five years. If the company meets the investment goals before the job goals, the county can withhold $500 for each job that’s not created. The final payment is due in January 2031.
The deal is similar to one with Orange County for Morinaga’s first plant, which required a $48 million investment and 90 new jobs.
NC business ties to Japan
Morinaga is the latest Japanese company to extend its footprint in North Carolina.
In April, Fujifilm pledged 680 more jobs and another $1.2 billion for an incoming Wake County plant, while Toyota last fall announced an additional $8 billion investment at its battery site south of Greensboro.
Dai Nippon Printing and Kyowa Kirin are among the other Japanese companies to promise new North Carolina investments in the past 12 months. This spring, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a rare official visit to North Carolina, where he was hosted by Gov. Roy Cooper.
Japanese companies are now the top source of foreign direct investment in the state, Sanders said.
“Over the past few years, we have had and seen unprecedented growth from our Japanese business partners, and it is deeply satisfying to see such strong collaboration and friendship between the two countries,” she said.
Speaking after the announcement, Orange County Commissioner Anna Richards discussed the steps Mebane is taking to prepare for the jobs and people coming to the area.
“There’s new housing developments in that part of Orange County, and we’re looking at and taking into account what it means for schools and the community,” she said.
She added she had never eaten a HI-CHEW before but would grab one of the free samples at the event on her way out.
This story was originally published July 16, 2024 at 12:00 PM.
