KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 ― According to The Wall Street Journal, American candy maker Hershey Co. (HSY) Friday said a US$250 million (RM794 million) confectionary plant will be built in Malaysia, to boost its presence in Asia to meet growing demand for its products.

The plant which will be situated in Johor, will be the single-largest investment in Asia since the Hershey, Pa-based company started 18 years ago. Just like other international food companies, Hershey is looking to tap into surging demand for discretionary food items from developing nations in Asia.

“Adding this new manufacturing capacity will put us in a strong position to meet the growing demand for our products across the region,” Hershey’s senior vice president and chief supply chain officer Terence O’Day, said in a statement.

Hershey has nine other plants in the US as well as facilities in Canada, Mexico, India, Brazil and China. It expects the plant to be ready by early 2015. “Our new Malaysia plant will complement production at our existing joint-venture plant in China,” O’Day said.

According to the statement, the production capacity details weren’t mentioned. However, the plant will produce four of Hershey’s five global brands, which will include “millions of Hershey’s Kisses” each day.

Hershey is expanding in Asia as part of an ambitious global target to achieve US$10 billion in annual revenue by 2017. By the end of 2014, its international sales is expected to reach about US$1 billion, the company said as reported by the WSJ.