Lactalis has confirmed it plans to invest €3m ($3.2m) at one of its three manufacturing facilities in Colombia.
The site in Medellín, Antioquia, which produces UHT milk, cream and dairy desserts, is earmarked for investment to modernise the plant, the France-headquartered dairy major said.
Lactalis aims to increase the capacity for UHT milk storage at the Medellín factory, switch over to automated machinery for pasteurised dairy products and update disinfection and sterilisation lines. It also wants to move heating systems away from carbon-emitting boilers to gas.
The investment plans emerged from an interview Juan Velásquez, the CEO of Lactalis' operations in Colombia, gave with the local edition of Forbes.
Confirmed with Just Food by Lactalis, the €3m investment slated for Medellín is part of a €4m project in Colombia this year. Lactalis has committed to invest a further €5m annually across the sites, Velásquez told Forbes.
As well as the Medellín facility, the dairy major operates a powdered milk plant in Cerete, Córdoba, and another in Chia, Cundinamarca, for chilled dairy products, fresh and powdered milk, and cream, Lactalis confirmed.
The company supplies the Parmalat and Proleche brands in the country, as well as the Zymil line and private label, Lactalis clarified, adding the President and Kraft dairy brands are imported into Colombia.
Velásquez told Forbes Lactalis generated a turnover of 600bn pesos ($148.7m) last year and is seeking to increase that by 8% this year.
“This year we expect to invest €4m in the industrial and quality area. Since 2021, we have been investing an average of €4m in Colombia, that is, we have already totalled around 64 billion euros,” he said.
With respect to the Medellín plant, Velásquez added: “We seek to reach the standards we have in Europe, so we must improve in terms of machinery, quality and training.
“To this end, in our long-term strategic investment plan, we plan to inject some €5m each year into Colombia.”
Meanwhile, Lactalis confirmed the targeted increase in turnover this year will be led by new products and planned increases in sales of the President brand.
