Mars Wrigley, the world’s largest manufacturer of chocolate, candy and other confectionery products, plans to leave its U.S. headquarters in Newark by the end of October.
The company will lay off 307 employees as part of the move, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state.
The departure marks the end of an era in Newark, ending a corporate presence in the city that dates back to the 1940s. The company’s current headquarters, located in the Ironside Newark redevelopment near Penn Station, opened in 2020.
Mars Wrigley’s beloved M&M’s were invented in Newark in 1941. Company executive Forrest Mars Sr. developed the candy after seeing British soldiers eat chocolate pellets during the Spanish Civil War.
The company will continue operating its manufacturing facility in Hackettstown even as corporate functions move to Chicago.
