Nature’s Bakery, a snack bar part of Mars Inc., recently celebrated the opening of a $240 million, 339,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City. More than 230 people will be working there by year-end, initially producing Oatmeal Crumble and Whole Wheat Fig Bars. But it can expand to other products and it has the space to grow to make more than 1 billion soft-baked snacks per year.
“This is a big deal,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said at the grand opening event. “The opening of this facility and expansion of Mars’ brand footprint in Salt Lake City is not by accident, and it’s no small thing for us as a city.”
The facility is expected to improve national product distribution and reduce delivery distances to retailers, cutting trucking-related CO2 emissions by an estimated 5,700 tons annually. It sports smart automation, including innovative systems for ingredient handling, packaging and quality control.
“This facility represents the latest in baking technology and manufacturing excellence, designed to maintain the quality and consistency that our consumers expect,” said Clint Briske, facility lead in Salt Lake City.
“With full operations now underway, we’re excited about the role the site is already playing in Nature’s Bakery’s continued growth and success. This is just the beginning of our story in Salt Lake City, and we’re thrilled about what we’re accomplishing together.”
Mars acquired Nature’s Bakery in March 2021, and the brand is on pace to more than double its size from 2020 to now. Nature’s Bakery products include Whole Wheat Fig Bars, Gluten Free Fig Bars, Fig Bar Minis, Oatmeal Crumble Bars, Brownie Bars and Hearty Bars. Meanwhile, Mars has invested $6 billion in the U.S. in the past five years and has committed $2 billion to U.S. manufacturing through 2026.
Nature’s Bakery CEO Steve Gardiner called the opening “a really momentous milestone” for the company, which supplies products to more than 100,000 retail sites in the U.S.
“Our new baking facility that we sit in today, that is actually just downstairs, is going to unlock even more growth for us in the future and allow us to really capitalize on what we think is an amazing opportunity going forward,” he said at the event.
The ability to produce 1 billion Nature’s Bakery bars is “obviously a pretty massive step forward for a company that started only 12 years ago.”
The facility, he said, “demonstrates our confidence in Utah’s thriving business environment.”
Blas Maquivar, global president of Mars Snacking’s Health & Wellness Division, noted that Salt Lake City is now home to both Trü Frü and Nature’s Bakery. Mars acquired West Valley City-based Trü Frü, a maker of chocolate-covered fruit snacks, in early 2023.
“The [Salt Lake] facility represents our largest expansion investment for Nature’s Bakery and will significantly increase our production capacity that will then allow us to keep up with the great consumer demand that this amazing brand is generating,” Maquivar said.
Mendenhall said the company will have great access to rail and air services at the “Crossroads of the West.”
“You are a perfect fit, and my office kind of lives off of your fig bars,” the mayor joked.
Mars got a boost in developing the new facility from the state, in the form of a tax credit incentive approved in January 2024 by the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board tied to creating 65 high-paying jobs over a decade. The incentive maximum
is $651,619.
“Manufacturing is one of Utah’s key industries, driving job creation, strengthening supply chains and fueling long-term growth,” Jefferson Moss, GOEO’s executive director, said in a prepared statement. “Nature’s Bakery’s new facility is exactly the kind of high-impact investment that positions Utah for continued success. We’re proud to welcome the company as it expands in Salt Lake City, bringing quality jobs and reinforcing our state’s reputation as a top destination for advanced manufacturing.”
Speakers at the grand opening noted that Nature’s Bakery already has become involved in the community, including through participation in a school winter clothing drive.
“That kind of proactive engagement, before you even packed a box up, says so much about the kind of intention you bring as a community member,” Mendenhall told company officials.
Gardiner said the company wants to forge partnerships with agencies such as Utah Food Bank. While the facility will boost company production and provide jobs, the company desires to be “a real, legitimate part of your community,”
he said.
“This is so much more than just the opening of a new facility. It’s all that. It’s absolutely all that, but it’s so much more than that,” he said. “It’s a beginning of a long-term partnership and relationship with our company, with Salt Lake City and with the great state
of Utah.”
Mars has a presence in 49 states, employs over 70,000 people and operates 38 factories in addition to veterinary clinics, labs and 16 global and regional offices. Its brands include Royal Canin, Pedigree, Whiskas, Cesar, Dove, Extra, M&M’s, Snickers and Ben’s Original. Nature’s Bakery specializes in soft-baked goods that are plant-based, nut-free, dairy-free and gluten-free.