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.
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.