Church and Dwight expands gummy vitamin production capabilities

Church and Dwight has confirmed the addition of a new production line at its facility in Pennsylvania in order to expand its gummy vitamin manufacturing capacity.

The new production line is set to begin construction in January 2014 and will be operational during the first quarter of 2015. It will help to expand production capacity of these products by 75 percent.

Currently, Church and Dwight manufactures gummy vitamins at two sites in the US state of Washington, but it has now chosen to expand following a 20 percent increase in annual net sales of the products in 2013.

The company expects to invest approximately $55 million (33.48 million pounds) in capital expenditures to construct the new production line, which is expected to employ approximately 180 people.

James Craigie, chairman and chief executive officer of Church and Dwight, said: "We believe the future prospects of the gummy vitamin category are strong as more adults switch from traditional vitamin pills to gummy vitamins."

The company also recently purchased the Avid gummy vitamin business, helping it to achieve an 11 percent year-on-year sales increase in the third quarter of 2013.