The company said it planned to increase its own milk collection in the region by 10% by 2014, and that its collaboration with local authorities and farmers in the Doukkala-Abda region would increase milk production, improve fresh milk quality and encourage the development of the dairy industry.
The region in question (in west central Morocco) produces 22% of the nation's milk – sourcing over 340m litres per year with 38% used in pasteurised or powdered milks – and Nestlé will invest CHF 5.3m (€4.4m) over the next three years.
Money will be spent on training around 10,000 farmers and providing them with expertise in milk supply, technical equipment, management and finance.
David Saudan, CEO of Nestlé Morocco, said the company was investing to encourage growth within the dairy sector and “help us to continue to deepen our engagement with farmers and their communities”.
Nestlé said its work with farmers reflected its Creating Shared Value approach to business – outlined in a recent report – whereby it aims to create value for shareholders and the communities within which it serves and operates.
In late April, Nestlé Morocco signed an aggregation agreement with milk producers in Doukkala-Abda and local government bodies to invest the CHF figure noted above.
This agreement comes against the backdrop of the government’s Green Morocco Plan, which aims to boost milk production, and Nestlé said its scheme would cover 24% of dairy farmers in the region, where it organised farmers around professional organisations or private actors with managerial ability.
By investing in Morocco, Nestlé also claimed that it was supporting the development of the global dairy industry, and linked the move to other investments such as a CHF 127m spend on a new milk products factory in China and a new UHT milk facility that opened in Sri Lanka in April.
The company began operations in Morocco in 1992 when it opened a milk factory in El-Jadida to produce powdered milk under the Nido brand, and sources around 73m litres of fresh milk from over 16,000 dairy farmers in the country.