For some they are just a sticky mass between the teeth, for others they are a sweet delicacy: all Maoam chewy sweets are made in Neuss. A major investment will soon be made there.
The candy manufacturer Haribo wants to invest around 300 million euros in a new factory in Neuss (North Rhine-Westphalia) where Maoam chewy sweets will be produced. The company announced on Monday that it was in discussions with the city of Neuss regarding the purchase of a 14-hectare property (20 football fields). Construction could begin in 2025 and production could start in 2028. Haribo operational director Markus Riegelein had previously given an interview to the “Handelsblatt” and reported on the project.
The company, based in Grafschaft in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, already has another factory in Neuss, where all Maoam chewy sweets are currently produced. After a transitional period with parallel operation, this old factory is to be shut down – it is significantly smaller than the new location, whose production capacity will reportedly be around twice as high.
The existing factory could no longer meet the demand for Maoam and there was not enough space to expand the factory. The company said they wanted to build the new factory five kilometers away. So far, Haribo has 350 employees in Neuss, and around 100 are expected to be added in the future. In the future, not only Maoams, but also fruit gums will be produced on the new large area.
In 2020, Haribo stopped production in a 120-employee factory in Saxony, drawing criticism. The company is now choosing Germany as an industrial location for a major investment. The wage and energy costs in this country are high, and many regulatory requirements do not make it easy for manufacturing companies, said manager Riegelein to the “Handelsblatt”. “But these are challenges that we accept.” Especially since the general conditions around the world are currently not particularly stable. “It can still be produced competitively in Germany.”
The company name Haribo stands for “Hans Riegel Bonn”. The candy company had its headquarters in the former federal capital for a long time, but in 2018 it moved it to the county. It has a plant there as well as in Bonn, Neuss and Solingen. According to its own information, Haribo has around 7,000 employees worldwide, including around 3,000 in Germany. Maoam has only been part of Haribo since 1986, when the company acquired the chewy candy manufacturer Edmund Münster GmbH