Nestlé Lanka opens $3.4m UHT milk plant

Nestlé Lanka has opened a new UHT milk plant in its factory in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. The new production facility cost LKR500m ($3.4m) to construct.

Nestlé’s factory in Kurunegala is home to its production facilities that manufacture, amongst others, its dairy based products.

Through this new investment, Nestlé plans to expand the company’s production capacity for its dairy based beverages.

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Pic: ©iStock/pavalena/ihba

The new plant will manufacture RTD (Ready-To-Drink) products like Milo, Nespray Nutri-Up, Nescafé Ice and Nestomalt.

Local manufacturer

Chief guest at the opening, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, said that external debt is a real challenge the country faces today.

He praised Nestlé, however, for the local manufacture of its brands.

Nestlé has been operating in Sri Lanka for 110 years, and focuses on manufacturing products locally, largely using local ingredients.

“Nestlé is also a fine example of a company that has fully integrated itself into the domestic economy through its many initiatives to empower the lives of 20,000 local dairy farmers,” Coomaraswamy said.

Largest private collector

Shivani Hegde, managing director for Nestlé, said that the new UHT milk plant will positively impact the local farmers the company works with on a daily basis.

Nestlé, which is Sri Lanka’s largest private sector collector of fresh milk, contributed LKR 3.6bn ($24.4m) in 2015 to its dairy farmers as payment for fresh milk, to manufacture its products like Nespray, Milo and Milkmaid.

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Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor - Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Upul Jayasuriya, chairman - board of investment of Sri Lanka observing the RTD production line of the new UHT milk plant. Looking on are Bandula Egodage, Nestlé assistant vice president – corporate affairs and communications; Shivani Hegde, Nestlé Lanka managing director and Aris Protonotarios, head of technical - Nestlé South Asia Region. Pic: © Nestlé Lanka