Nestlé is set to invest £150m ($199m) in a Purina PetCare factory in the UK, the latest in a series of investments in the sector across markets.

The Swiss giant is expanding its site in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, which makes pet food under brands including Felix, Gourmet and Winalot.

Nestlé said 40 new roles will be created at the pet-food facility, which employs 600 workers, as it will upgrade existing production lines.

It added the investment will aim to “improve energy efficiency and to help reduce carbon emissions over the coming years”.

Nestlé added: “Pet care is a strong growth category for Nestlé and in 2023 accounted for around 20% of total sales for the group, up from around 12% a decade ago.”

Just Food has contacted the Swiss group for further details.

In May, the group invested SFr200m ($220.9m) into its factory in the city of Silao in Mexico, with adjacent land purchased for future expansion.

A third line for wet pet-food produced under the Purina brand would be added at the Mexico plant and a fourth for dry food varieties, Nestlé said, adding an estimated 94 jobs would be created as a result.

In other regions, an investment in one of Nestlé’s US Purina pet-food plants, based in Jefferson, Wisconsin, was announced in April.

A second round of capex was also revealed for Hungary in February, directed at the Purina facility in Bük, a town in Vas County.

The first round for the Bük factory was unveiled last October.

Italy was also a capex recipient in April, when Nestlé said it would invest in a new pet-food plant in Mantua.