BeijingMay 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Mars’ Beijing Huairou Chocolate Factory recently celebrated a milestone moment as it marks 30 years of development in China. As one of the first modern chocolate factories in mainland China, the Huairou factory has continuously increased its local investment over the past three decades, bringing classic brands such as Dove®, M&M’S®, and Snickers® into countless households.
Over these 30 years, the manufacturing capabilities of the Huairou factory have evolved continuously, from an early focus on large-scale production of a few products to a flexible production system that now supports multiple recipes and complex processes. Through the ongoing introduction of digital and intelligent technologies, the factory has not only built Mars China’s first palletizing center and automated warehouse but also earned the title of “Beijing Intelligent Factory” in 2025. This flexible and efficient manufacturing capability allows the factory to respond extremely nimbly to the increasingly diverse and personalized instant demands of Chinese consumers. Today, while supplying the domestic market, its high-standard products have also gone global, exported to multiple overseas markets, bringing “Huairou-made” chocolate into the daily lives of more consumers both at home and abroad.
If flexible manufacturing is the cornerstone of agile response, then R&D and production collaboration is the “accelerator” of local innovation. In 2015, the Mars Chocolate R&D Innovation Center was officially established at the Huairou factory, directly connected to it. This layout compresses the distance from “R&D” to “trial production” for a new idea to within walking distance. New products incubated by the R&D team based on insights into Chinese consumers can now undergo trial production and process adjustments more quickly, significantly shortening the product development cycle from the previous 1-2 years to the current 6-9 months. Over the past decade, the center has successfully incubated over 120 new products and obtained more than 30 patents.
While improving production efficiency and accelerating innovation, source quality has always been the starting point for a good piece of chocolate. Leveraging over a century of chocolate-making experience, Mars insists on using real cocoa ingredients, selecting premium main-season cocoa beans from three core cocoa-producing regions near the equator to ensure stable raw material quality and pure flavor. To ensure the long-term stability of the raw material supply chain sent to global production lines, including Huairou, Mars has continuously invested through the “Generational Cocoa Plan” in dimensions such as scientific cultivation, farmer community support, and ecological protection, promoting the sustainable development of the cocoa ecosystem. This quality closed-loop, from source selection to local refined production, ensures that every piece of chocolate delivered to Chinese consumers has a pure flavor.
Feng Liu, President of Mars Snacking China, stated: “The 30 years of the Huairou factory represent Mars’ 30-year journey of answering ‘how to make a good piece of chocolate.’ From source selection to R&D and production collaboration, and then to intelligent manufacturing, Mars has always been committed to strengthening quality and innovation capabilities through long-term investment, responding to the new expectations of the Chinese market in a more efficient and agile manner.”
Standing at the new starting point of its 30th anniversary, Mars will continue to uphold its corporate vision of “The Future Starts Today,” delivering joy and companionship from this “Chocolate Dream Factory” to countless households, bringing Chinese consumers more delicious, high-quality products and experiences that meet local needs.