Nestlé opens two production facilities in South Africa

Swiss food company Nestlé has opened two new production facilities in Babelegi, South Africa, with an investment of ZAR400m ($48.98m), as part of its plan to strengthen its presence in the country.

The new 16,000m² factory will manufacture Milo and Cheerios breakfast cereals, while the other plant features new production lines for the manufacture of Maggi noodles.

The facilities will allow the company to locally manufacture Milo, Cheerios and Maggi products, and also source most of the ingredients and packaging materials from local farmers and suppliers.

These projects have created 130 permanent jobs.

The Swiss firm plans to invest a further ZAR47m ($5.75m) to expand its existing coffee creamer plant in Babelegi and ZAR37m ($4.53m) to establish a new distribution centre.

Nestlé chief executive officer Paul Bulcke said there is major growth potential in South Africa, which has a population of nearly 50 million and a growing middle-class with increasing purchasing power.

"This is why we continue to invest heavily to accelerate our growth here," Bulcke added.

Nestlé has 12 production sites and four distribution centres across South Africa, and employs 3,700 people.

Meanwhile, Nestlé has also opened a CHF16m ($16.52m) factory in Luanda, Angola, as part of its three-year programme launched in 2010, which aims at investing CHF150m ($154.88m) in the African continent.

The new factory, which is the company’s first in the country, will be a finishing centre for packing products such as Nido milk powder and will create 50 new jobs by the end of its first year of production.

Nestlé has announced its plans to build additional production lines at the Angola factory to produce beverage products such as Nescafé.

In Angola, the company sells brands such as Cerelac, Nido, Nesquik, Nescafé, Maggi and Ricoffy.

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Image: With the opening of the new facilities, Nestlé will locally manufacture Milo and Cheerios breakfast cereals and Maggi noodles for the first time in South Africa. Photo: Nestlé.