Swiss consumer products giant Nestle has opened an $80-million factory in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, in an expansion drive targeting the world's emerging markets.

"/> Swiss consumer products giant Nestle has opened an $80-million factory in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, in an expansion drive targeting the world's emerging markets.

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NESTLE

Nestlé opens major Nigerian plant

Swiss consumer products giant Nestle has opened an $80-million factory in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, in an expansion drive targeting the world's emerging markets.

Food and beverage giant Nestle on Thursday opened an $80-million factory in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, in an expansion drive targeting the world’s emerging markets.
 

Africa brings in three percent of the Switzerland-based multinational’s sales and plans are to double that by the turn of the decade.  


“A big part of our growth will obviously come from emerging markets,” said Nestle Group’s CEO Paul Bulcke. “Africa has so many emerging consumers.”
 

Nigerian Vice President Namadi Sambo attended the ceremony to open the factory that will employ 180 people.
 

Bulcke said Nestle plans to invest $1 billion on the continent over the next two years in new plants in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique, among others.
 

Africa, with one billion people, is a “continent of limitless possibilities,” he said. Nigeria’s population alone is 150 million.
 

“Nigeria has a good internal market, Nigeria has resources,” he said. “We see Nigeria as a major growth driver of Africa’s development.”
 

Companies face major hurdles in oil-rich Nigeria, including an erratic electricity supply and deeply rooted corruption, but those capable of overcoming the challenges can tap into a huge market.
 

The new factory built on 36 hectares of rural land in Nigeria’s southwestern Ogun State is dedicated to the production of flavour-enhancing seasoning added to nearly all stews in Nigeria and many parts of West Africa.
 

Africa’s population, already 15 percent of the world’s total, is projected to grow by 50 percent by the year 2030.
 

The multinational has operations in 27 African countries, with its largest single market South Africa, followed by Nigeria.

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NESTLE

‘Unlimited resources’: Switzerland’s Nestle goes vegan

Swiss food giant Nestle, which has made billions with dairy products, said Monday it will host start-ups that want to develop vegetarian alternatives.

'Unlimited resources': Switzerland's Nestle goes vegan
Photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

Nestle could thus find itself at the forefront of a sector that has strong growth potential, an analyst commented.

It plans to open its research and development (R&D) centre in Konolfingen, Switzerland to “start-ups, students and scientists” a statement said.

In addition to testing sustainable dairy products, the group plans to encourage work on plant-based dairy alternatives, it added.

Chief executive Mark Schneider was quoted as saying that “innovation in milk products and plant-based dairy alternatives is core to Nestle's portfolio strategy.”

The group unveiled a vegetable-based milk that had already been developed with the process, and technical director Stefan Palzer told AFP it planned to focus on 100-200 such projects a year.

Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, noted that while Nestle had missed some consumer trends in the past, it has now “taken something of a lead in the plant-based alternative market for food”.

And “given its pretty much unlimited resources, Nestle is going to come out one of the winners in the space,” Cox forecast in an e-mail.

Nestle said that “internal, external and mixed teams” would work at the R&D centre over six-month periods.

Nestle would provide “expertise and key equipment such as small to medium-scale production equipment to facilitate the rapid upscaling of products for a test launch in a retail environment,” it added.

The Swiss food giant has long been known for its dairy products, but faced a boycott in the 1970s for allegedly discouraging mothers in developing countries from breastfeeding even though it was cheaper and more nutritious than powdered formula.

On Monday, the group's statement also underscored that the research initiative was part of its commitment to help fight global warming.

“As a company, we have set ambitious climate goals. This is part of our promise to develop products that are good for you and good for the planet,” it said.

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