MALAYSIA – Nestlé Malaysia has commissioned its expanded Chembong Factory in Negeri Sembilan, to establish the facility as the world’s largest MILO Manufacturing site and global Centre of Excellence.

Nestle invested RM90 million (US$21.5m) in upgrading the manufacturing facility with state-of-the-art production lines to optimise capacity and efficiency to deliver higher productivity and competitiveness.

This increased the factory’s processing capacity by 30% which Nestle says will enable the company meet the growing domestic demand and export to over 20 countries.

Speaking during the launch, Mr Juan Aranols, Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé Malaysia Berhad said, “We strongly believe in the economic opportunities in Malaysia.

“That is why we have been steadily investing into growing our business for over 100 years in the country.

Mr Juan said that the RM90 million (US$21.46m) investment was reaffirms Nestlé’s commitment to continue enhancing its manufacturing operations and “produce nutritious and high-quality made-in-Malaysia Halal products for all Malaysians.”

“The investment into the existing Chembong factory has allowed our MILO Manufacturing Facility to optimise our operations and productivity improvements through automation and digitalisation, as well as leverage economies of scale,” added Mr Aranols.

MILO product variants produced in the Chembong Factory include MILO powder, MILO 3 in 1 and MILO Kosong.

“Malaysia is a key market for Nestlé globally and a key manufacturing hub in our Asian region” Mr Chris Johnson, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Zone Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa, Nestlé S.A.

“This expansion is testament to our drive to ensure strong, profitable and sustainable growth, in tandem with our commitment to continue investing in Malaysia as a key manufacturing hub for the Nestlé Group,” said Mr Chris Johnson.

Established in 1993, the Chembong factory complex currently employs Nestlé’s largest factory workforce among its six factories in Malaysia.

New paper straws for Milo UHT

Nestlé Malaysia has also announced a breakthrough in the efforts to combat plastic waste, with a packaging innovation for its MILO UHT 125ml drink packs which will avoid 40 million plastic straws per year.

The new packs, which will be rolled out throughout the fourth quarter of 2019 and will make Nestlé the first Food and Beverage Company in Malaysia to introduce paper straws for packaged drinks.

Following this pilot initiative, Nestlé Malaysia plans to roll out this packaging solution to its other MILO UHT variants in phases progressively with the ultimate objective of eliminating over 200 million plastic straws a year.