Tasting success in the U.S. market, Switzerland chocolatier Lindt & Spruengli plans a $200 million expansion of its Stratham, N.H., plant over the next four years, the Bloomberg news service reports.
The plant reportedly will add lines and especially automation "for premium chocolate" – which covers most of the company's products. The site will eventually have more than 1 million square feet of space for production, storage and distribution, Bloomberg reports.
Lindt over the years has acquired American firms Ghiradelli, Russell Stover and Whitman's, and in recent years has introduced its Swiss brands Lindor and Excellence into this market.
Lindt reported a 4 percent increase in North American sales in the first half of this year. Total North American sales last year were $1.6 billion. It claims to be third-largest chocolate maker in the U.S.
