Record Capex Commitment
Mars, Incorporated will commit an estimated $1.4 billion to U.S. manufacturing and operations in 2027 — the largest single-year domestic capital outlay in the company's 115-year history — building on more than $9 billion invested across American facilities since 2017. The announcement spans snacking, frozen, wet pet food, and veterinary health, reflecting the breadth of a portfolio that now exceeds $65 billion in combined net sales following the Kellanova acquisition.
CFO Claus Aagaard framed the commitment as a long-term supply chain play. Ninety-four percent of Mars products sold in the U.S. are manufactured domestically, and the company employs 80,000 U.S. associates across more than 60 factories, research labs, and offices, plus over 2,000 veterinary clinics and hospitals. The Kellanova deal added 15 facilities to that footprint in the past year alone, bringing brands like Cheez-It and Pringles into a manufacturing network that now requires coordinated modernization investment.
Where the Capital Lands
Several discrete projects illustrate the allocation logic. In Salt Lake City, Mars invested $60 million to add two dedicated manufacturing lines for its Trü Frü frozen-dipped fruit brand inside a $240 million Nature's Bakery facility that opened in 2025 — a site already capable of producing more than 1 billion snack bars annually. The Trü Frü lines will add annual capacity of 17 million frozen product units, targeting a rapidly growing better-for-you snacking segment that competes directly on impulse and convenience channels relevant to foodservice and retail operators alike.
In Columbus, Ohio, a $49 million investment at Mars's wet pet food plant is onshoring production of TEMPTATIONS Lickable Treats, introducing modern mixing and filling technology with capacity for more than 400 million pouches per year. Total site investment since 2022 now stands at $162 million. Meanwhile, the Waco, Texas facility — which produces over 56 billion pieces of SNICKERS, STARBURST, and SKITTLES annually — is marking its 50th anniversary with $165 million in upgrades since 2024, concentrated on energy efficiency and format innovation that recently powered the SNICKERS Xtreme Almond and STARBURST Sour rollouts.
Veterinary Health Expansion
Early 2027 will also see Mars deploy more than $34 million to open four new Mars Veterinary Health locations: three BluePearl Pet Hospitals in Ellicott City, Md., and Austin and Katy, Texas, plus a Banfield Pet Hospital in Wilmington, N.C. The four facilities are projected to create up to 195 jobs and will offer emergency and specialty veterinary services in high-growth suburban markets. The expansion reflects continued operator-scale investment in the veterinary services channel, where Mars already runs one of the largest hospital networks in the country through BluePearl, Banfield, VCA, and AniCura brands.
For foodservice and food-manufacturing operators tracking supply chain resilience and domestic production trends, the Mars commitment signals that large CPG players are accelerating U.S. capex rather than deferring it — a posture that has implications for ingredient sourcing, co-manufacturing capacity, and labor markets in the communities where these facilities operate. Comparable peers in the snacking and pet food space have faced margin pressure from input cost volatility; Mars's scale and privately held structure afford a longer investment horizon than most publicly traded counterparts. See related coverage on supply chain investment trends and CPG manufacturing expansion for broader sector context.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
