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30 <br />Attachment #4 <br />limited range of key brands. As part of that effort, the company sold off its liquor operation in 2000. The company <br />then began stepping up development of new products, to be launched under its array of "power" brands- - <br />including Milk Cocoa, Weider in Jelly, Hotcake Mix, and Amazake. Meanwhile, the company continued to <br />manufacture and market a number of products under license, such as the popular Pez candies and, since 2002, <br />European favorite Werther's Original. <br />The company also had begun to look beyond the Japanese market, which remained its chief source of revenues. <br />At the beginning of the 21st century, Morinaga established a manufacturing subsidiary in Taiwan, in an attempt to <br />conquer a share of the island's market. Morinaga also targeted Hong Kong for sales. Yet its main interest lay in the <br />huge potential of the Chinese mainland, with its consumer market of more than 1.3 billion people. The company <br />launched construction of a manufacturing facility in Shanghai, which became operational by the end of 2004. <br />In September 2013, the 114 -year old Company established Morinaga America Foods, Inc. as a new North Carolina - <br />based facility to produce Hi -Chew candy. The new company, located in Mebane, Orange County, NC is a wholly - <br />owned subsidiary of Morinaga & Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. <br />Updated: <br />9/30/2013 <br />Steve Brantley <br />Director, Orange County Economic Development <br />11 <br />