Mars is spending €1bn ($1.18bn) on production and R&D across 2025 and 2026, including on projects in France, Poland and Spain.
The privately owned US group, which is waiting for the EU to give its verdict on the company’s takeover of Kellanova, said it wanted to build “a stronger, more resilient business in Europe”.
In a statement, Mars said it had spent €1.5bn on its EU operations during 2020 to 2024 and has earmarked more investment this year and next.
It pointed to a project started in 2023 to up its production capacity at a chocolate factory in Janaszówek in Poland.
The work, set to be completed in 2027, will cost Mars around €250m and see the company increase capacity at the site by more than 60%.
Mars has 24 manufacturing sites across ten EU member states.
“We are planning investments across all our business segments in the European Union, including Spain and France, with a focus on modernisation, innovation, and sustainability to ensure our factories are fit for the future. We will share more details on individual investment plans in due time,” a spokesperson said.
In the statement announcing the overall €1bn figure, Mars CFO Claus Aagaard said the Skittles maker “takes a long-term view – we believe in Europe and we would like to see more growth for the benefit of consumers in the EU economies”.
He added: “For Mars, this is about more than just growth. It’s also about building a stronger, more resilient business in Europe – one that delivers more innovation to consumers, delivers value for thousands of our European suppliers, and creates lasting, positive impacts in the communities where we operate.”
Last week, the European Commission set a new deadline to complete its investigation into Mars’ planned $35.9bn takeover of Kellanova.
The Commission suspended its probe in July, announcing it had not received information it had requested as part of its assessment of the transaction.
As a consequence, a 31 October deadline for the regulator to complete its investigation – launched in June following the announcement of the merger in August 2024 – was cancelled.
Now it is back on, with the Commission setting a new provisional deadline of 19 December. The October suspension ended on 15 September, suggesting the missing information to sign off the deal has now been received.
The preliminary findings from the competition body of the Commission, the EU’s executive arm, were that “the transaction could lead to higher prices for consumers due to Mars’ increased negotiating power towards retailers in the European Economic Area (EEA)”.
