Reckitt is investing up to $600 million across two US sites, including $400 million over the next four years to double its original commitment to a North Carolina Mucinex plant, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Reckitt says the additional capacity in Wilson will help absorb demand spikes during heavy cold and flu seasons without running short.
The company originally committed $200 million to the site in December 2024. The new investment will add 234,000 square feet to the existing 310,000-square-foot building, allowing more than 80% of Mucinex products to be made in the US. Wilson will become Reckitt’s largest US over-the-counter plant, making Mucinex tablets and liquids plus Move Free, and is set to open in the first half of 2027.
Reckitt bought the former Sandoz site in 2024 to shift some Mucinex production from Mexico and the UK.
In Nutley, New Jersey, it is also building a science and innovation center next to its North American headquarters. The center will bring commercial and R&D teams together, with Reckitt citing supply resilience and product development rather than tariffs as the drivers.
Reckitt says the added capacity will help it meet spikes in consumer demand, according to The Journal.
Reckitt is one of several companies moving production into US plants this month. GE Appliances is spending $400 million to shift high-output dryer production from Mexico to Louisville as part of a $1 billion campus investment. Sapporo plans to move non-alcoholic beer production from Canada to the US by mid-2027. La-Z-Boy has closed one Mexico upholstery plant and plans to close another, shifting both operations to existing US plants.
North America accounted for 23% of Reckitt's revenue in the first half of the year, compared with 33% in Europe and 44% in emerging markets, according to the Journal. The region getting the new investment is its smallest by revenue.
