Mars $31m Mississippi plant renovation

The company has not set specific dates for the renovation to begin and end, Matt Hurst, ​spokesman, Mars, told FoodProductionDaily.com. "The investment is over three years but that doesn't necessarily mean that we will have everything completed by [2018],"​ he said.

The Greenville facility produces rice-based products under three brands: Uncle Ben's, Seeds of Change and Abu Siouf (which the company exports to the Middle East). Without providing specifics as to what types of equipment will be added or replaced, Hurst said the renovation will "modernize parts of our plant and install a state-of-the-art packaging line, as well as build the Research and Development Application Center."​

The plans were announced jointly by Apu Mody, president of Mars Food North America, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, and the Mississippi Development Authority, which provided grant assistance for the project.

Mars opened the plant in 1978 with five packaging lines and one processing line, and it has since grown to occupy 250,000 square feet and house close to $140m in fixed assets. When the company observed the plant’s 35th anniversary last December, officials said increasing market demand had necessitated adding convenience lines in 1987, a ready-to-heat area in 2007, and a milled rice area in 2011.

So why add a full-fledged R&D center in Mississippi? Mars has R&D operations at its manufacturing sites around the world, and Hurst said, “Expanding our research and development capabilities fits into our overall Food Purpose — ‘Better food today, better world tomorrow’.”​