FDBusiness.com

Nestle is strengthening its dairy industry interests in Asia with the opening of a new UHT milk factory in Sri Lanka. The factory builds on the company’s recent investments in dairy development in China and India. It will produce ready-to-drink brands such as Milo and Nespray at Nestle’s existing manufacturing site in the Sri Lankan province of Kurunegala.

“Our latest investment will have a ripple effect across the local community by helping our company make a positive impact on thousands of suppliers and farmers in the country,” says Alois Hofbauer, managing director of Nestle Lanka. “The new manufacturing capabilities also mean we can produce new products for our Sri Lankan consumers.”

The SFr5.8 million factory is part of a SFr77 million (Eur64 million) total investment in Sri Lanka over the next few years. Two other factories producing Maggi noodles and Nestle brand malt beverages were opened on the site in the last 12 months.

Nestle has supported the Sri Lankan dairy sector since the 1980s. Today Nestle Lanka’s has three UHT milk factories. Nestle isSri Lanka’s single largest private sector collector of fresh milk, procuring fresh milk from over 15,000 local dairy farmers every day.

The new UHT milk factory is part of Nestle’s dairy investment programme in Asia. The company constructed a new dairy farming institute in Shuangcheng in Heilongjiang province, China, in January.

Nestle India has developed milk production in the region since it built its first factory in Moga in 1961. The company now has eight factories in the country. Over the years, Nestle has invested to develop the area around that first factory, setting up milk collection points and training farmers to improve productivity and quality.