Mars Petcare and its subsidiary The Nutro Company recently began building a US$87-million North American Regional Innovation Center for petfood in Thompson's Station, Tennessee, USA. The four-building campus will serve as the companies' home base for creating future petfood innovations for the North American market and is expected to be complete in 2014.

"Pets and their owners in the North American market seek high-quality, cutting edge nutrition, and our new Regional Innovation Center will ensure Mars Petcare and Nutro products deliver on that promise in new and exciting formats," said David Macnair, global vice president of research and development, Mars Petcare.
The new center will support 144 jobs. Each building on the campus -- the Innovation Center, Product Development Center, Shared Services building and the Pet Health and Nutrition Center -- will serve a different purpose in the life-cycle of creating new and innovative petfood products.

The companies see the center as essential for global acceleration in developing and growing their petfood portfolio.