A $42 Million Facility in Illinois is making "Experimental" Candy

That new flavor of M&M's or that weird new Snickers bar you have fallen in love with started at a massive "experimental" candy facility here in the Land of Lincoln. Where is it? Here are the details you need to know...

According to an article from PRNewswire.com, Mars, the chocolate candy company that brings you candy like M&M's, Milky Way, Snickers, Skittles, Twix, Dove, and many more, opened a $42 million snacking research and development hub in Chicago at the start of 2024.

In the article, they say "...One of seven Mars global innovation sites around the world, the 44,000-square-foot, $42 million facility will be dedicated to chocolate and nut testing, research and innovation...the new facility will give Mars' 300 R&D Associates in Chicago runway to create and refine new products for the company's multi-billion-dollar snacking portfolio..." The article specifically goes on to mention that the new Chicago testing facility on Goose Island will be focusing mainly on new Snickers, M&M's, and Kinder creations. To read more about all of the chocolatey details on this new facility here in the Land of Lincoln, click here!

More on Mars

I find that it makes sense that Mars is trying to move away from just candy bars and focus on candy snacks. People see candy as a bad thing, but if it is a snack that happens to have candy in it well then it isn't as bad! According to the Wikipedia page on Mars, Mars owns Wrigley (which is why they have such a presence in Chicago), and they also own snack food brands like Combos, Ben's Original, and even have the pet food lines of Iams, Pedigree, and more!