Mondelēz Canada readies $30m ($40m CAD) expansion at Toronto factory
Mondelēz has manufactured in the region since the 1960s, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), and recently invested $191m USD ($250m CAD) in nearby sites, including two bakeries.
The confection invested $40m CAD ($30m CAD) in the Hamilton site to produce favorite candies originally made by Maynards, the UK and Canadian company behind Sour Patch Kids, Sour Cherry Blasters and Fuzzy Peach Rings. (Cadbury acquired Maynards in the ‘90s, then Kraft Foods – now Mondelēz International – bought Cadbury in 2010.)
New hires and the existing 350 employees have undergone ‘significant up-skilling’ to learn how to work with ‘state of the art’ manufacturing technology, the company said.
Martin Parent, president of Mondelēz Canada, said the new line will reiterate Hamilton’s leadership in advanced food manufacturing.
Hamilton mayor Fred Eisenberger called the investment “a strong vote of confidence in our community and our people.”
Mondelēz manufacturing in Canada
The global snacking giant employs more than 2,600 people across nine sites in Canada, with headquarters in Toronto. Mondelēz claims to be the country’s second-largest snacking company, after PepsiCo.
The company operates five manufacturing facilities in Canada, including a $37m CAD ($28m USD) investment in chocolate in Gladstone and $130m CAD ($99m USD) in biscuits and cookies in East York. The cookie/biscuit and candy split is about 50/50 in terms of sales, according to a company snapshot.
While Maynards is the number-one candy brand in Canada, Trident is second in gum and Cadbury third in chocolate. Oreo holds the top slot for biscuits.
Though Mondelēz International has indeed invested in several of its North American facilities – including $250m in Canada alone – it has relinquished others.
In 2018, Mondelēz closed an Oreo factory in Montréal, open since 1965, where more than 450 people lost their jobs. In Chicago in 2016, the company halved the workforce at its Nabisco factory in operation since 1953.
