USA — Italian manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products Ferrero Group has broke ground on a new US$75 million, 70,000-square-foot chocolate processing facility in Bloomington, Illinois.  

The plant under the group’s North America division will be Ferrero’s third facility that processes chocolate, and it’s first outside of Europe. 

The new facility is an expansion of Ferrero’s existing Bloomington manufacturing center and will produce chocolate for Crunch, 100 Grand, Raisinets, and other Ferrero products for the North American market. 

“The ability to process high-quality chocolate here in North America is instrumental to building on our important growth in this market, which is advancing Ferrero towards our goal of being a world leader in global confectionery,” said Todd Siwak, president and chief business officer of Ferrero North America.  

“I am so happy that we are able to reach this important milestone in Illinois, the heart of America’s food and confections industry.” 

The new facility is set to open in the spring of 2023, creating approximately 50 new jobs, a statement from Ferrero revealed.

Ferrero ramps up investments in North America

With the North American market being an important growth driver for Ferrero, the company has made several investments in the region over the past few years. 

These include the expansion of its North American headquarters in New Jersey and the opening of new distribution centers in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia.  

The company’s footprint in the market now totals 8 offices and 10 plants and warehouses in North America, including a cocoa processing plant in Brantford, Ont. 

Greater investments have resulted in the company consistently ranking as one of the fastest-growing confectionery manufacturers in the U.S. over the last five years with strong growth of more than 6%, triple the pace of the confectionery category. 

The business has recently integrated acquired brands including Butterfinger, CRUNCH, and Fannie May and added a new offering to its Nutella & Go portable snacks line with the launch of Nutella & Go Multigrain. 

The new addition features Nutella on one side and multigrain sticks with oats and blueberries on the other.  

“As the leading driver of growth in the spreads category, it’s important to bring consumers new and exciting ways to enjoy Nutella,” said Todd Midura, VP, marketing, Nutella North America at Ferrero. 

The new variants, available in multipacks in-store and online from major retailers, joins the Nutella & Go line-up of products, which includes breadsticks and pretzels. 

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