The new facility, Nestlé Nantli, is the company’s largest investment in infant nutrition in the past 10 years. The official inauguration was attended by the Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto; secretary of economy, Ildefonso Guajardo; the governor of Jalisco, Aristoteles Sandoval; and the municipal president of Ocotlan, Paulo Hernandez.
“$245m is the biggest investment made by Nestlé in Mexico in a single infrastructure project, which represents our commitment to the country, its people and to our consumers,” Laurent Freixe, executive vice president of Nestlé South America and head of zone Americas, said.
In a June 2016 market report, Future Market Insights identified Nestlé South America as one of the key players in the growing infant nutrition market, which is expected to increase at a CAGR of 10.1% between 2016 to 2026.
Nestlé Nantli is expected to generate $1.6m pesos ($82.8m) annual as well as create 250 new direct jobs and 1,250 indirect jobs in Mexico and across South America. An additional 8,000 temporary jobs have been created during its construction.
Priority placed on sustainable manufacturing technology
“It uses the most advanced technology for manufacturing the highest quality child nutrition products, such as NAN, Good Care, Good Start, Nidal and Nestogeno. The factory also gives a boost to local economy by purchasing 560m liters of fresh milk and 365m liters of whey per year from 400 milk manufacturers from the region,” said global head of Nestlé Nutrition Heiko Schipper.
Approximately 40% of production from Nestlé Nantli will be exported to Latin America, the Caribbean and other regions around the world. The new plant will triple the current production capacity in Mexico, supported by processes and patents owned by Nestlé.
The factory is also built using environmentally sustainable technologies with 85% of the electricity will be powered by wind and solar energy, as well as energy recovery technologies to utilize the heat and 100% of the residual water used in the factory.