Mars Austria consists of four operating units: the chocolate factory in Breitenbrunn, the petfood factory in Bruck/Leitha, the Austrian In-Market organisation and the market organisation for South Central Europe.
Mars Breitenbrunn
The confectionery factory in Breitenbrunn on Lake Neusiedl was acquired by Mars in 1973 from the Rondo-Neisse company. There was a strategic reason behind this acquisition, as the wafer production technologies used in Breitenbrunn did not exist within Mars at the time.
To this day, Breitenbrunn remains the global ‚wafer centre’ of the Mars Group. Production, however, is a far cry from what it used to be: the capacity of the factory has been increased almost hundredfold, and processes carried out by hand have been replaced by fully-automated production lines. In the past ten years alone Mars has invested 48 million euros in the expansion of Breitenbrunn.
The best-known products from Breitenbrunn are AMICELLI® and MILKY WAY CRISPY ROLLS®.
Mars Bruck/Leitha
Ten years after the acquisition of Breitenbrunn, Mars decided to build Austria’s first petfood factory in the town of Bruck/Leitha, located 20 kms from Breitenbrunn and some 40 kms from Vienna.
Operations in Bruck started in autumn 1985. Originally designed to serve the Austrian market only, the factory gradually expanded its market to include surrounding countries. Capacity has been expanded from 20,000 to 130,000 tonnes per year.
The factory is so efficient that, in cost terms, it can keep up with both the much larger sister factories in Western Europe and the new manufacturing units in the CEE region. Short changeover times allow for the production of specialties in relatively small batches for the world market, such as the diet products made for our sister company Royal Canin.
Another innovation from Bruck is WHISKAS® BIO: a catfood made from the finest, highly nutritious ingredients from organic farms.
In 2011, work began on the construction of a major factory extension, including a new pouch production line, to go on stream in 2013, with a total investment of € 33 million.
Mars Austria In-Market
- Mars Austria leads the domestic markets in all of its main categories: petfood, chocolate bars, bite-size confectionery, and rice.
- Our popular brands sold in Austria include BALISTO®, BOUNTY®, MARS®, MILKY WAY®, SNICKERS®, and TWIX®; M&M’S® and MALTESERS®; AMICELLI® and CELEBRATIONS®; DOLMIO®, EBLY®, and UNCLE BEN’S®; CESAR®, CHAPPI®, FROLIC®, and PEDIGREE®; KITEKAT®, PERFECT FIT®, SHEBA®, WHISKAS®, and WHISKAS® BIO; CATSAN®, NATUSAN®, and SERAMIS®.
Mars began to develop the markets of Central and Eastern Europe in the early 1990s. Initially these markets were managed from Austria, but as they evolved, the organisations were moved to the individual countries, in line with Mars, Inc.’s decentralised management system.
Today this process is largely completed, with most CEE markets being separate legal and accounting entities. But a team of around 20 associates in charge of some management and support functions for markets in South Central Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean remains based in Bruck.
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