Company to double size, employment within next two years
Mebane city and Orange County officials gathered under a big tent Thursday afternoon for the ceremonial groundbreaking for the expansion of Morinaga America Foods.
Eijiro Ota, president of the Japanese parent company, Morinaga & Company, Ltd., came from Tokyo to participate in the event and made brief remarks.
Ota laid out the timeframe for the company’s second manufacturing facility in the United States, with both being side by side in Mebane. Ota estimated construction, which is expected to begin with clearing and grading beside the existing facility next week, would be completed by June of 2026, with production to begin by January 2027.
[Story continues below architectural rendering of the proposed addition beside the existing facility.]
The company is the maker of Hi-Chew candies, one of the most popular candies in Japan and one growing in popularity in the U.S. Morinaga America Foods president Noriyuki Nishikawa has previously outlined to Mebane’s city council the company’s 20 percent annual growth in U.S. sales, now reaching $137 million.
Other dignitaries included U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee who praised the “public-private” partnership between local and state governments with the Japanese-based company.
Mebane mayor Ed Hooks and other speakers highlighted the rapid growth of the company’s U.S.-based operations in Mebane. The company announced its decision to make its first production facility outside of Asia in Mebane in 2013; broke ground on the plant in 2014; and began production in 2016.
“Thank you for choosing Mebane – again,” Hooks said.
[Story continues below photos from the groundbreaking.]
Morinaga announced in July its plans to build a $136 million expansion of its existing facility at 4391 Wilson Road in Mebane, which fronts I-85/40, doubling both the size of its plant and the number of employees, adding 204 more. Morinaga’s existing manufacturing facility is located inside Mebane’s city limits, just over the Alamance County line in western Orange County.
Morinaga’s planned expansion will double its footprint in Mebane – from the original 100,000-square foot manufacturing plan, to 200,000 square feet by 2027 – at its existing 21-acre property along Wilson Road.
The new jobs associated with Morinaga’s forthcoming expansion will be full-time and offer healthcare and other benefits, officials said at a press conference at the time of the announcement.
Mebane’s city council unanimously agreed in August to an incentives package of about $1.1 million – $576,999 in cash grants distributed annually after investment and employment benchmarks are achieved and a maximum waiver of the city’s building permit and inspections fees of $500,000.
With an estimated $31.6 million property tax valuation in 2023, Morinaga is on track to become one of the top manufacturing taxpayers in Orange County.
Morinaga initially invested $48 million to build its existing manufacturing facility in Mebane, where it currently employs more than 200 people, according to Mebane city officials.
In addition to Mebane’s incentives, Orange County acted in September to approve $2.9 million in incentives payments, to be distributed in annual installments over a period of seven years.
Orange County commissioner chairman Jamezetta Bedford lauded the company’s contribution to the area’s economy and employment in brief remarks on Thursday afternoon.
Also present, representing state government, was Marqueta Welton, deputy secretary of commerce, who stressed the contributions of Morinaga as an “important corporate citizen” in North Carolina.
Morinaga America Foods will receive a state performance-based grant of $100,000 to help fund the expansion, contingent on a matching investment of $115.4 million by the company, as well as local government support, Gov. Roy Cooper said in July when the company’s plans were announced.
Recipients of those grants through the One North Carolina Fund receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets in order to receive any grant payments, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, which administers the grants.
Other components of the state’s incentives plan are said to total about $6.7 million, as follows:
- Sales tax exemption for machinery and equipment purchases ($5.9 million)
- N. C. Community College training support ($306,000)
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Federal Bonding Program to assist in the hiring of “at-risk” job seekers ($255,000)
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit ($146,400)
- On-The-Job (OJT) training ($50,000)
