INDONESIA – Leading food ingredients company, Kerry has announced that it will build a second manufacturing facility in Karawang, Indonesia in an effort to increase its footprint in South East Asia (SEA).
According to Kerry, the new US$36 million state-of-the-art facility represents its largest ever capital investment in SEA to date. It will be Kerry second manufacturing site and third facility in Indonesia.
The company notes that the facility will significantly expand its Taste offering in the region and further support customers in the fast-growing markets of SEA.
It will also be Kerry’s first greenfield investment in SEA and will encompass a flavour manufacturing site along with a sampling hub and a research and development pilot plant.
A wide range of flavour technologies will be manufactured in Karawang, allowing this new site to support Kerry’s fast-growing taste business and its food and beverages systems across all food categories.
According to John Savage, CEO Global Taste at Kerry, the South East Asian taste market is valued at circa €900m and growing in strong single digits with a huge opportunity for further development and innovation. This includes the Beverage and Snacks category which is among the fastest growing end use markets for Kerry.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the SEA market for food flavors and flavor enhancers is expected to register a CAGR of 7.1% and 4.1% respectively, during the forecast period, 2018-2023.
Increased tourism and consumer preference for traditional flavors are the major factors driving the flavor market in Southeast Asia, according to the market research company.
“This new investment is made with current and future customer needs in mind and the important role that taste can play in enabling the transition to healthier and more sustainable diets,” said Antoine Nourrain, General Manager, Taste APMEA.
The design of the new facilities includes an on-site wastewater treatment plant that meets the criteria of Kerry’s Beyond the Horizon sustainability strategy of achieving new standards in the consumption of energy and water with significantly lower CO2 emissions and no waste to landfill.
As a global leader in taste and nutrition, Kerry has offices in 31 countries, 149 manufacturing facilities and employs 26,000 people globally, including over 1,000 food scientists.
The company says construction of the new Indonesian has started and the plant will be operational late 2022.
Commenting on the announcement, John Savage, CEO Global Taste said: “This new facility will strengthen our competitiveness as we work with customers to deliver our Taste portfolio of solutions and bring excellent and authentic tasting products to market.”
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