Nestlé to invest P2B more in RP

Nestlé will invest an additional P2 billion to further expand and upgrade its facilities in the Philippines, it was learned yesterday. This is on top of the nearly P3-billion investments it announced last year.

Nestlé S.A. executive vice president and Zone AOA (Asia-Oceania-Africa-Middle East) director Michael W. Garrett announced this during a meeting with Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo on Aug. 27, 2002, where he also expressed continued optimism and confidence in doing business in the country. Also present in the meeting were former Foreign Affairs Secretary and Presidential Assistant on Competitiveness Roberto Romulo and Nestlé Philippines chairman and CEO J.B. Santos.

"Our investments, expansion, and exports affirm our continued confidence in the Philippines and demonstrate our commitment to support the growth of the Philippine economy in whatever way we can," Garrett said.

Garrett said Nestlé S.A. management is very pleased with the excellent performance of its wholly owned subsidiary, Nestlé Philippines, Inc., which achieved a P48.5-billion sales turnover last year and continues to rank among the top 10 Philippine corporations. Nestlé Group, ranking No. 11 worldwide, No. 2 in the region after Japan, and No. 1 among the Nestlé companies in ASEAN.

"We are optimistic that 2002 is going to be another good year for Nestlé Philippines, which has already outperformed the Group’s average for the first half of this year," Garrett said.

Nestlé Philippines started expanding its Cabuyao and Cagayan de Oro factories last year to serve as ASEAN supply centers for infant nutrition and filled milk powder, respectively, exporting these products to Nestlé ASEAN markets such as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand under the brand names Lactogen and Everyday. The company’s first ASEAN supply center is its Lipa factory, which has been exporting breakfast cereals to Nestlé ASEAN markets since 1991.

"The Nestlé Group recognizes the world-class manufacturing capability of our Philippine subsidiary, a major reason why we have designated three of our factories here as regional supply centers. The Philippines has proven that it can be cost-competitive and reliable in supplying Nestlé products to the region," declared Garrett, who also visited the Nestlé Cabuyao and Cagayan de Oro factories during his five-day visit to review Philippine operations.

The company expects to increase its export of infant and filled milk powder to ASEAN by 25 percent in 2002, valued at $63 million. Milk powder makes up the bulk of Nestlé Philippines’ total export revenues of nearly $100 million in 2002.

Aside from milk powder and breakfast cereals, other Nestlé products for export include Maggi food products, Cerelac, rice flakes, Nestlé Pure Life, Nestlé Cream, Nestea iced tea, Nestlé Ice Cream, and confectionary products under the Nestlé and Goya brands.

Nestlé Philippines also continues to expand and upgrade its coffee manufacturing facilities in Cagayan de Oro, where it consolidated its Nescafé production last year, a move that is expected to generate economies of scale for the nation’s No.1 coffee brand. This is also a strategic decision for Nestlé, which now sources 65 percent of its green coffee requirements from Mindanao.

Nestlé Philippines has been operating in the country for over a hundred years now. It produces and markets products under some of the country’s well-known brands such as Nescafé, Nido, Milo, Nestea, Maggi, Bear Brand, and Nestlé, among others. Its product range has expanded to include coffee, milk, infant nutrition, infant food, beverages, non-dairy creamer, food, ice cream and chilled dairy, breakfast cereals and confectionary.