Mars pulls out of Newark, focuses on Chicago
The company will be cutting 307 employees from its roster.
A Skittles Remix machine at the Sweets & Snacks Expo, Indianapolis, May 2024.
Chocolatier and snackmaker Mars announced it will be closing its U.S. headquarters in Newark, NJ by the end of October, moving all corporate business to Chicago. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with New Jersey in July, 307 employees will be impacted by the move. The company has had a presence in Newark since the 1940s, and its current HQ opened in 2020.
The move will not have an impact on the Mars Chocolate factory in Hackettstown, NJ, says Real Estate NJ, noting that Mars will completely shift all of its corporate operations to Chicago by December 2027. The Newark hub previously handled corporate functions like sales and marketing for the snacking division, but the global HQ for Mars Wrigley and Mars Inc. is located in Chicago.
The downsizing of its New Jersey HQ news comes a few months after the snacking giant announced a $100 million expansion of its Chicago snacking HQ.
Mars originally announced in December 2017 that it would be moving its U.S. HQ to New Jersey:
"Mars is proud to have a strong legacy and future across both New Jersey and Illinois," said Berta de Pablos Barbier, president, Mars Wrigley U.S. "Creating U.S. offices in New Jersey will allow us to keep driving growth, while also positioning us to retain and attract the future talent needed for our continued success.”
Former Candy Industry chief editor and former Chicagoan Bernie Pacyniak lamented the choice of New Jersey over Chicago at the time, in a column titled "'Say it ain't so, Mars Wrigley'! noting: "... when I read the headline in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune that Mars Wrigley Confectionery was going to base its U.S. headquarters in Hackettstown and Newark, N.J., I was—to put it mildly—devastated. Granted, the company’s global headquarters will remain in Chicago, but the company’s official press release announced that its U.S. headquarters will be in its existing offices in Hackettstown, as well as a new location in New Jersey."
"Now, I’ve been to Hackettstown. It’s a pleasant place. But it’s no Chicago. As for New Jersey, I understand the state threw a lot of tax credits—$31 million over 10 years, to be precise—to secure Mars Wrigley Confectionery’s commitment. According to the Tribune, the move will transfer 205 jobs from Chicago to New Jersey. In total, the Garden State will benefit with an additional 1,500 jobs."
According to NJ.com, Mars's M&M’s were invented in Newark in 1941, with "company executive Forrest Mars Sr. [developing] the candy after seeing British soldiers eat chocolate pellets during the Spanish Civil War."
Mars is on the current Candy Industry “Global Top 100 Candy Companies” list. Click here to view the current “Global Top 100” rankings.
Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
