Nature’s Bakery opens $240 million facility in Salt Lake City

The new 339,000-square-foot facility is expected to create more than 230 jobs, officials said.

The snack-food maker Nature’s Bakery opened its third U.S. manufacturing facility Wednesday in a Salt Lake City neighborhood — promising to create more than 230 jobs in Utah.

Officials for Mars Inc., the parent company of Nature’s Bakery, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday that the 339,000-square-foot facility at 2331 N. 2200 West in the Mountain West neighborhood cost the company $240 million to get off the ground. It’s part of Mars’ pledge to invest $2 billion into U.S. manufacturing by 2026.

To bring the plant to Utah, the state approved the snack brand for a post-performance tax incentive through the Economic Development Tax Increment Financing program. The incentive encourages companies to invest and create jobs in the state, said Daniel Royal, business development director for the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity.

“As companies are creating jobs and paying taxes to the state, what we call new state revenue, we’re able to give a portion of those taxes back to them as a tax credit,” Royal said.

Under the agreement, Nature’s Bakery may receive a 20% tax credit of the revenue it generates over the next decade, but only after it fulfills its commitments, including creating 65 high-paying jobs and more than 190 total positions in Utah, according to a news release.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said no city tax incentives or funds were used to bring the facility to the area.

The site is the brand’s third facility in the United States, according to Nature’s Bakery CEO Steve Gardiner — joining locations in the St. Louis area and Carson City, Nevada.

Gardiner said 160 of the 230 positions have already been filled, with most new hires coming from within Utah.

The new facility marks Nature’s Bakery’s largest expansion investment to date, Gardiner said. He added that the growth wouldn’t have been possible without support from Mars — the candy maker best known for M&M’s, Snickers and Skittles — which acquired the brand in 2020 during a shift toward healthier snacks.

“This building alone is probably equal to our other ones combined. And it was certainly the biggest economic check,” Gardiner told The Salt Lake Tribune. “The $240 million, we would never have access to that kind of sponsorship on the capital side without someone like Mars leaning over our shoulder and being willing to support the business.”

Mendenhall praised the development, saying it will provide a significant boost to the city’s economy.

“The opening of this facility and expansion of the Mars brand footprint in Salt Lake City is not by accident, and it’s no small thing for us as a city,” Mendenhall said. “That’s a phenomenal number of opportunities for our residents here to have stable employment with a great company.”

The facility is expected to improve national distribution and shorten delivery distances to retailers, Mars officials said in a news release, helping the snack maker produce close to 1 billion new bars every year.

Discussions to bring the plant to Utah began about two years ago, Gardiner said, as the company launched a multi-state search for a western U.S. manufacturing site. Key factors in the decision included proximity to both ingredient suppliers and customers.

“That narrowed it down to a few states,” Gardiner said. “And then we tried to find really good, business friendly states and communities and where we’d have access to an educated workforce. And that brought us to Utah.”

Mars has other ties to Salt Lake City. The company furthered its dive into healthier snacks in 2022 by buying Utah-based Trü Frü, which makes frozen chocolate-covered fruit. Trü Frü opened a new headquarters downtown earlier this year, Mendenhall said.

Gardiner said more jobs are expected once Trü Frü products begin production at the new facility.

Established in 2005, the EDTIF program provides partial tax rebates to companies in targeted industries that meet specific performance benchmarks, according to the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. In urban counties, projects can receive up to a 30% tax credit and created positions must pay at least 110% of the average county wage. Incentives are greater in rural counties.