Nestle SA opened a 270 million-real ($86 million) pet food plant in Brazil, betting that higher-income Brazilians who love their pets will help it expand sales in Latin America’s largest economy. The new Purina site in Ribeirão Preto will make wet food for cats and dogs from the Friskies, Cat Chow, Pro Plan and Dog Chow ranges. It uses exclusive technology to produce more natural and nutritious meals, by preserving the original meat characteristics.
Laurent Freixe, Nestlé Executive Vice President and Head of the Zone Americas, took part in the opening. He noted that the new factory underlines Nestlé’s confidence in Brazil and in Latin America. “The entire growth in pet-care area is in premium products,’’ Freixe said in an interview in Sao Paulo. “Today the largest part of value creation is from premium products.” Worldwide, pet care has been one of Nestle’s biggest sources of growth, climbing 5.5 percent in the first nine months of 2016, excluding acquisitions, divestments and currency shifts. The business represents about 13 percent of total global sales.
The Purina factory will produce 30,000 tons of wet pet food per year. About 75 percent of the output will stay in Brazil, and the rest will be exported to surrounding countries such as Argentina, Peru, Chile and Colombia, said Fernando Merce, Purina’s head for Latin America. Brazilians have more than 132 million pets, according to the National Statistics Agency, compared with a human population of more than 200 million.
Nestlé’s CHF 85 million investment will generate around 80 new direct jobs and a further 400 indirect jobs, and meet expected rising demand for pet food in Brazil and the region. The facility also minimises impact in line with Nestlé’s commitment to environmental sustainability. It will send zero solid waste to landfills, uses sunlight and LED lamps, and a thermal energy recovery system.
