Nestlé building P4.8B plant

The Nestlé Group, which is celebrating 100 years in the Philippines, is investing some P4.8 billion in a fifth factory now under construction in Tanauan, Batangas.

The factory will start operations next year.

“By opening a new factory, we are closer to our consumers and our valued customers. At the same time, we are able to enhance local economic activity by creating employment and business opportunities for partners and suppliers,” Nestlé S.A. CEO Paul Bulcke said.

Bulcke said the company sees faster growth in developing countries, including the Philippines, in the next 100 years. However, Nestlé still sees growth in developed countries, especially in niches such as the aging population, which needs specialized nutrition that Nestlé can provide.

Nestlé Philippines Inc. chair and CEO John Miller said the factory will manufacture Coffeemate, the raw material for which used to be imported from Thailand.

“But that will only be until the middle of next year,” Miller said.

Frits van Dijk, zone head for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, said the Tanauan factory was near an area where tapioca is grown. Tapioca is a raw material used in producing Coffeemate.

“As Nestlé Philippines marks its centennial, the ongoing construction of the Tanauan factory is a concrete reaffirmation of our commitment to the Philippines,” said Van Dijk.

Nestlé has invested more than P10 billion in the country in the last five years.

The bulk of these investments, Nestlé said, has gone toward enhancing production capability to meet growing local market demand.

Sales of Nestlé Philippines totaled P92 billion in 2010, making it the eighth largest corporation locally.