Nestlé has planned to invest RMB 400 million ($58.5 million) into China, in an attempt to bolster its sustainable agriculture and production.
The capital will be utilized in financing dairy practices, local grain cultivation and improving production capacity of its cereal products.
The news comes following Nestlé announcement that it will establish its first exclusive plant-based production facility, as part of a $103.7 million investment in China.
Nestlé informed that a part of the investment will be utilized to fund a new Nestlé Grain Competence Center (GCC), first such global facility by Nestlé aiming to publicize the growth of local grain cultivation in Heilongjiang initially focussing on organic grains.
A part of the investment will also be utilized to accomplish the expansion and modernization of the Nestlé Dairy Farming Institute (DFI) established in 2014 which will eventually aid in making the Chinese dairy farming practices up-to-date. The company expects that this investment will boost its role in dairy farming training and improve its position as a sustainable source of premium-quality local milk, particularly for Nestlé’s A2 milk products.
Apart from this, Nestlé is undertaking a series of emission reduction projects at the DFI’s own dairy farm which is expected to develop and exhibit best practices, with an objective to explore opportunities for ‘carbon-neutral’ fresh milk. The project represents a part of Nestlé’s goal to minimize greenhouse gas emissions by its supply chain.
Another portion of the investment will target on making the company’s production capacity robust at Shuangcheng located in the Heilongjiang province. As per Nestlé, this project would be completed in two phases in the time expansion of coming five years. This will involve expansion of the production capacity by more than 50% for its Gerber infant cereals, and releasing two new categories of products; infant cereal-based snacks and adult functional foods.
Nestlé affirmed that it will be adopting newer energy-saving programmes and replacing some older equipment with latest state-of-the-art technologies in order to furnish its Shuangcheng facilities as somewhat more sustainable and efficient unit.