Mars, Incorporated, the family-owned business behind household brands including WHISKAS, PEDIGREE, SHEBA, Ben’s Original, EXTRA, M&M’s and SNICKERS, has announced a £161 million investment to modernise its pet nutrition factory in Melton Mowbray.
Mars has been part of the Melton Mowbray community for 75 years, and the site is the birthplace of brands including WHISKAS and PEDIGREE. Today, it is one of the region’s largest employers and a key production hub for Mars Petcare, supplying 95 per cent of its output to British households and exporting the remaining 5 per cent to European markets. WHISKAS feeds 6.6 million cats nationwide – more than half of the country’s cat population. The investment reinforces Mars’ commitment to the local community and strengthens its capacity to meet changing consumer demand in the UK, the world’s third-largest pet food market.
New production lines and packaging
Running through 2031, the modernisation programme will establish Melton Mowbray as Mars’ primary UK factory for pouched pet food. Mars will install new production lines to support the use of recyclable mono-polypropylene (mono-PP) packaging. The upgrades will also support the company’s ambitions to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. New technology, including AI-powered cameras that detect defects earlier, will help improve efficiency and reduce waste.
Sharon Ross, plant manager at Mars Melton Mowbray, said: “Melton Mowbray holds a unique place in Mars history as our first pet care site. Having celebrated 75 years of manufacturing this year, this £161 million investment is a profound vote of confidence in our site, our Associates, and the wider community. By integrating cutting-edge technology and expanding our apprenticeship programme, we are building on our proud heritage, equipping the next generation with future-ready engineering skills, and writing an exciting new chapter for the iconic brands like WHISKAS made right here.”
Skilled jobs and more apprenticeships
In its first year, the investment will create more than 30 skilled technical and engineering roles and expand the site’s permanent apprenticeship cohort to 33 positions. The apprenticeships will focus on technical and operational areas, including mechanical and electrical engineering.
Kevin Crook, acting leader of Leicestershire County Council, said: “This is absolutely fantastic for Melton Mowbray – Mars has been an important part of the local community for eight decades and this significant investment highlights their commitment to the area. We want to help make this a success for Mars and Leicestershire, which is why we’re working to bring partners together to help increase employment opportunities for local people and opportunities for local suppliers and contractors to be a part of this investment. Melton Mowbray has helped to make Mars the successful business it is today, and I’m sure this will continue over the coming years.”
Over the last five years, more than 50 apprentices have completed their programmes at the Melton Mowbray site. Across its wider UK business, Mars employs more than 140 apprentices, supported by a dedicated programme that develops skills in artificial intelligence, digital systems and data analytics. Mars offers permanent placements to 97 per cent of apprentices on completion of their programmes. The investment will give more young people a route into manufacturing careers.
James Pearson, an apprentice at the Mars Melton Mowbray factory, said: “The history of the Melton factory is one of the things that makes working here feel special – our grandma worked here and now we do too, so it’s very special to have that connection to Melton and Mars in our family. Generations of local people have helped make brands such as WHISKAS and PEDIGREE here, and as apprentices we are proud to be learning from that experience while developing the technical skills needed to move with the factory’s future. This investment means more young people from the area will have the chance to become part of that story.”
The announcement brings Mars’ total investment across its UK operational and manufacturing network to £661 million since 2021, spanning its snacking, food and pet care businesses. Mars has eight UK factories, including sites in Slough, Plymouth, Melton Mowbray, Birstall, Milton Keynes, Castle Cary and King’s Lynn. Its wider pet care business includes the Waltham Petcare Science Institute in Leicestershire, which researches animal health and nutrition, and Linnaeus, a network of more than 180 veterinary clinics and referral hospitals across the UK and Ireland.
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