Mars has opened a third wet pet food production line at its Novosibirsk factory.
“We view Russia as a very promising market, particularly, in Siberia and the Far East. This is why we are building reserve capacity to satisfy the growing demand for our products,” said Valery Schapov, General Manager of Mars Petcare, Russia.
According to Mars estimates, about 20 percent of pets in Siberia and the Far East eat ready-made complete foods. This level exceeds 50 percent in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, which demonstrates a high potential for consumption growth in the region.
The company invested 1.7 billion rubles (€20 million) in increasing the factory capacity.
The launch of the third line created 43 new jobs.
“Mars expanded to Novosibirsk Region almost 20 years ago and has been increasing both the production capacity and tax payments to the regional budget ever since. Last year, its tax contributions exceeded 300 million rubles (€3.45m or $4.04m). Today’s launch of the new line means that our region offers optimal environment for further development of the factory. The region’s government will continue taking systematic efforts to make the investment climate and government support even better,” Sergey Syomka said at the opening ceremony.
Since the start of construction in 1998, the company has invested over 3 billion rubles in the factory. It manufactures products under the brands Whiskas®, Kitekat®, Pedigree® and Chappy®.
The Mars manufacturing complex in Novosibirsk includes dry and wet food production facilities and a finished product warehouse. The factory’s products are delivered to stores located in Siberia, the Urals, the Far East and Kazakhstan.
