INDIA- Maggi noodles manufacturer, Nestlé, is exploring locations for its tenth factory in India and is considering the east, where the food giant has no representation by a factory in the country.
India is Nestlé’s second-largest market in Asia by sales, and the company is working on expanding its footprint further in the country, establishing itself in all of India’s regions.
“If we are able to get a good geography and locational fit, we would like to look at the east, but at the moment, [we are] evaluating other regions too to set up the tenth factory. We will make up our minds sooner than later,” a spokesperson from Nestlé provided.
According to Nestlé’s annual report, the company has factories making drinks, dairy products, and confectionery in India, in addition to a nutrition and Health Science unit in the country.
In 2022, the Swiss giant generated sales of US$2.19bn, up 12.9% from last year, citing “broad-based performance across all categories.”
In March 2023, Nestlé’s publicly-listed subsidiary in India reported a 21.3% rise in sales in the country during the first quarter of 2023, reaching US$588.5m.
“This is the highest growth for [Nestlé India] in a quarter in the last ten years, excluding the exceptional quarter in 2016, which was off a low base in 2015,” Suresh Narayanan, the chairman and managing director of Nestlé India, said.
This planned expansion in India will likely see Nestlé perform even better in sales generation upon completion. Moreover, the Swiss food giant said it is weighing up the options for a coffee factory in the same country.
Nestlé to downsize US Health Science division
In other news, Nestlé is planning to close down two Health Science plants in the USA to bolster efficiency in its health nutrition arm, retrenching over 300 people.
Nestlé Health Science, the Swiss giant’s division that focuses on healthy and medical nutrition, stated that it “is in the process of consolidating its supply chain network to increase efficiency,” according to a statutory employment notice.
According to Chris Richardson, Nestlé Health Science director of project management and HR special projects, “312 positions will be eliminated on a permanent basis” at the two plants.
“There are no bumping rights at the impacted facility. The employees have no elected collective bargaining representative,” he added. These jobs will be cut from the end of June.
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