Morinaga America Foods, Inc., a subsidiary of the Japanese confectionary company Morinaga & Co., Ltd. will expand its current operations in Orange County with an investment of $136 million, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The company reports it will create 204 jobs in Mebane.
“North Carolina continues to attract large investments from companies in Japan because we offer the advantages they look for,” said Governor Cooper. “It was great to visit with Morinaga’s leadership when I was in Japan and it’s clear that the relationships we’ve made along with our great workforce, infrastructure and quality of life continue to bring good jobs to our state.”
Morinaga & Co., Ltd. was founded in Tokyo in 1899. The company and its subsidiaries produce and distribute a wide array of confectionary products that are enjoyed around the world, 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, opening the Mebane plant in 2015 to produce one of the company’s signature products, the fruity candy HI-CHEW. Dramatically increased demand for the popular HI-CHEW candy led to the company’s expansion decision today, which will bring additional manufacturing space and production lines to the Orange County site.
"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. “We aim to become a company that continues to grow here in North Carolina."
“We welcome this renewed commitment to our state by Morinaga,” said Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “Companies with direct experience of doing business in our state validate our economic strategies when they review their operations and then decide to expand here. We will continue to strengthen the things companies value, like our workforce training programs, so great expansions like this one will keep happening in North Carolina.”
In October 2023, Governor Cooper and Secretary Sanders led a North Carolina delegation to Japan to the annual Southeastern United States/Japan (SEUS/Japan) Economic Development Conference in Tokyo to recruit industry and meet with business leaders and others. Governor 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. In the past decade, Japan has accounted for nearly half of all foreign direct investment (FDI) in North Carolina, making it the state’s largest source of FDI. More than 30,500 North Carolinians go to work at Japanese-owned companies, with several thousand more scheduled to start in the next five years.
This April, Governor Cooper hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to deepen ties between the state and Japanese leadership and celebrate recent Japanese business investments. This year’s SEUS/Japan Conference will be held this October in Charlotte, a milestone event that will showcase North Carolina’s economy and build even greater ties between the state and Japan.
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 40 jobs, and local government support. The OneNC 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 OneNC 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 40 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.
“HI-CHEW is a unique confection manufactured here in Orange County, and then distributed to shops and stores across the country for people to enjoy,” said N.C. Representative Renée Price. “Morinaga has been a welcomed addition to the community since 2013, and the announcement of their expansion of operations in our county is exciting news. Orange County offers the assets and amenities necessary for a global corporation to succeed, and we look forward to the new jobs and significant investment forthcoming to our community.”
“Morinaga has become one of our region’s most valued employers, and it’s exciting to see the company begin its next chapter of growth in our area,” said N.C. Senator Graig Meyer. “Many people and organizations came together to support this expansion and we look forward to seeing the great future that lies ahead for this company in North Carolina.”
Partnering with the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, the Commerce Department’s Division of Workforce Solutions, Orange County Board of Commissioners and Manager’s Office, the City of Mebane, and the Orange County Economic Development Office.
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