Mars Set to Open New Lewisburg, Ohio, Pet-Food Processing Plant
Mars Inc. has announced completion of its new, $450 million pet-food processing facility in Lewisburg, Ohio, a 450,000-sq.-ft. complex that will produce Royal Canin pet food. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is reportedly scheduled for May 15. The facility is expected to create up to 270 full-time jobs in the next five years and pump out enough food to feed 4 million pets annually.
The facility is just one piece of a larger, $6 billion worth of investments by Mars Inc. over the past five years in the U.S. on the manufacturing side. Poul Weihrauch, CEO of Mars Inc., said the company doesn’t plan to stop there, looking to continue growing to meet domestic demand.
Mars Inc. announced the Lewisburg project back in 2021 — at the time, it was anticipated it would cost $390 million and be opened in 2023. There was no indication as to what caused the increased cost and longer build time, as of the time of this writing.
According to the announcement, the Lewisburg facility uses systems and process designs tested across other Royal Canin facilities to replicate the precise nutrition levels the brand’s products demand. Lewisburg is capable of producing the entire range of regional dry kibble the company offers, and is the largest dry pet food factory for the brand in the world.
The Lewisburg plant received Silver LEED certification as well, the company announced.
About the Author
Andy Hanacek
Senior Editor
Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.