Jul 16, 2024 - Business

Japanese candymaker plots a second North Carolina factory

Zachery Eanes

DETROIT, MI - JUNE 21: A Hi-Chew bucket is placed in the Detroit Tigers dugout during the MLB baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers on June 21, 2024 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) — A Hi-Chew bucket inside the Detroit Tigers dugout during an MLB game. Photo: Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Japanese candymaker Morinaga, the company behind the Hi-Chew fruit candy, will build a second factory in Orange County after landing incentives from the state.

Why it matters: It's yet another local expansion from a Japanese company — a country that is currently the largest source of foreign direct investment in the state and whose prime minister visited North Carolina earlier this year.

Other recent expansions from Japanese companies include the tobacco company JT International, printing company Ricoh, biotech company Fujifilm Diosynth, Honda and, most notably, a Toyota battery plant.

In total, 4,379 new jobs have been announced by Japanese companies since 2013, according to Gov. Roy Cooper's office.

Driving the news: The new Morinaga factory will join the company's existing one in Mebane, which opened in 2015. Both will produce Hi-Chew, a chewy candy known for its variety of fruity flavors.

The candymaker said it would create 204 jobs and invest $136 million in the new facility.
The state awarded Morinaga a $100,000 grant through its One North Carolina Fund in exchange for the investment.

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Japanese candymaker plots a second North Carolina factory

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