Nestle’s Batangas factory to reduce imports from Malaysia and Thailand

Nestle Philippines on Friday opened its P5-billion factory in Tanauan, Batangas, that was design to produce the Bear Brand powdered milk and Coffee Mate non-dairy creamer.   The Tanauan facility, which Nestle calls “Factory of the Future,” would reduce the company’s dependence on Malaysia and Thailand for Coffee Mate, John Martin Miller, Nestle Philippines chairman and CEO told reporters during a briefing in Makati City.   The facility has a boilerplate capacity of 60,000 tons of Coffee Mate a year. "… We hope we can achieve that full capacity next year," Miller said.   Demand for Coffee Mate and Bear Brand – both Philippine household names – is consistently growing through the years Miller noted.

While its Coffee Mate used to be largely imported from neighboring countries, Nestle used to produce Bear Brand in Cagayan de Oro City.   Nestle sees the Philippines as an attractive investment destination, said Nestle executive vice president for Asia-Oceania-Africa Nandu Nandkishore. "The Philippines is a key market for Nestle in ASEAN, the broader Asian region, and worldwide."   The factory is part of the P16 billion in investments Nestle is pouring into the country to expand output capacities and meet the growing demand among Filipino consumers. Around 14 percent of the investments is for sales infrastructure, distribution, and information technology.   Standing on a 27-hectare property, the Tanauan production facility is Nestle’s fifth in the Philippines and is among its most advanced facilities in the world that incorporates process automation and control with environmentally-sound technology.   Completed in two years, “the Factory of the Future employs 214 people,” said Nandkishore.   Nestle has 3,666 workers in the Philippines, most of them working in factories in Cabuyao, Lipa, Pulilan, Cagayan de Oro and, Tanauan.   Miller said Nestle's expansion plans would continue in 2013 to improve its production system and process in an effort to head off business growth.   Sales reached P103 billion in 2011, up 10-percent from P94 billion in 2010. Last year’s exports totaled 34,000 metric tons valued at P6.6 billion. — VS, GMA News