The institute, located in Shuangcheng in Heilongjiang Province, comes with a US$32m price tag, as well as a pedigree, said John Cheung, Nestlé’s regional chief executive.
“We have a history of developing milk districts and the Nestlé dairy farming institute is an extension of this,” Cheung said.
Having been active in Chinese dairy operations for over 25 years, the company has now established three milk districts, in Shuangcheng, Laixi in Qingdao and Hulunbeier in Inner Mongolia.
China is one of the world’s fastest growing markets for milk products, and the market is expected to almost double in volume by 2020 from current levels.
“Milk is becoming a vital part of the Chinese diet, so the institute represents our commitment to helping China move its dairy sector to the next stage of development in a sustainable and efficient manner,” said Hans Joehr, Nestlé’s head of agriculture.