CHINA – Nestle has announced that it will be investing a further CHF 53 million (US$58.3m) in China to boost sustainable agriculture and production capacity in the province of Heilongjiang.
According to the food giant, part of the investment will promote the development of local grain cultivation in Heilongjiang Province, with an initial focus on organic grains.
This will be done through the new Nestlé Grain Competence Center (GCC), Nestlé’s first such facility worldwide.
Nestlé will also complete an expansion and upgrade of the Nestlé Dairy Farming Institute (DFI), strengthening its role in dairy farming training and as a sustainable source of high-quality local milk, especially for Nestlé’s A2 milk products.
The DFI will also play a growing role in Nestlé’s drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its supply chain.
“A series of emissions reduction projects at the DFI’s own dairy farm will develop and showcase best practices, aiming to explore opportunities for ‘carbon-neutral’ fresh milk,” stated the company.
The second part of the investment will focus on strengthening Nestlé’s production capacity in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang Province, which will be completed in 2 phases over the next 5 years.
First, it will expand the production capacity for Gerber infant cereals by more than 50%. Second, two new product categories will be launched, including infant cereal-based snacks and adult functional foods.
“A series of emissions reduction projects at the DFI’s own dairy farm will develop and showcase best practices, aiming to explore opportunities for ‘carbon-neutral’ fresh milk,”
Nestlé
Nestlé has indicated that it will continue to focus on making its Shuangcheng facilities even more sustainable and efficient, introducing new energy-saving programs and replacing some equipment with state-of-the-art technologies.
The announcement of the investment comes months after the Swiss company highlighted its plan of a series of investments in China that will further strengthen its footprint in the country and enable it to further enhance its product portfolio.
The company said it will invest more than US$103 million (RMB 730 million) in a “significant” capacity expansion of its existing petfood plant in Tianjin, introducing new production lines for high-value products.
The investment also includes the company’s first production facility of plant-based products in Asia.
In addition, Nestlé is also making a new investment for the confectionery business with an upgrade of the production line of Nestlé Chengzhen Wafer.
It also plans to further develop the Tianjin Nestlé Quality Assurance Center by further enhancing laboratory testing and quality monitoring services, quality assurance and laboratory capacity-building training, technical support for food safety and compliance testing, and more.
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