No teasing, Newmarket is now the home of Maltesers.

MARS Canada representatives, employees and local dignitaries gathered at the newly built, state-of-the-art facility located on Harry Walker Parkway as it announced it will be the first location in North America to produce the chocolate-covered caramel toffee treat.

“It is very exciting,” site director Bruce McMurray said. “For a small chocolate factory to double in size and be the only site in North America to serve North America says something about out site.”

It took just over a year from the time the first shovel was in the ground to roll the first chocolatey treat off the line in the 60,000 square-foot facility. The factory is built to LEED standards and combines the best current practices from three other facilities located around the world to make it an outstanding business model with a focus on quality.

The construction of the facility employed 50 tradespeople and the operation added 30 new highly skilled jobs to Newmarket’s employment bank. It is expected the operation will be looking to fill another 10 positions by the end of the year and more as production ramps up to become a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-per-week operation, according to McMurray.

About 7.5 million Maltesers will roll off the conveyor belts per day or about 90 treats per Newmarket resident. The factory will produce all of the Maltesers for the North American market, exporting about 80 per cent of what is produced to the United States.

Maltesers were first sold in the United Kingdom in 1937 and marketed as a diet confection since they were a chocolate candy with less chocolate, meaning less fat and calories.

While Maltesers are the number one confectionery treat in the United Kingdom, launching the product in the North American market has been 30 years in the making.

“Not only is Newmarket a great place for businesses to operate and residents to live, but now it is the home of the Malteser,” Newmarket Mayor Tony Van Bynen said, joking that this event drew more councillors than a council meeting.

Newmarket-Aurora MPP Chris Ballard said the location and the creation of new jobs benefits everyone in the community.

