Nestlé is adding production lines for Purina pet food in Mexico in the CPG giant’s latest investment in the category.
Following on from this year’s previously announced capex projects in the US, Italy and Hungary, Nestlé is channelling SFr200m ($220.9m) into its factory in the city of Silao, with adjacent land purchased for future expansion.
A third line for wet pet food produced under the Purina brand will be added at the Mexico plant and a fourth for dry food varieties, Nestlé said, adding that an estimated 94 jobs will be created as a result.
Laurent Freixe, the CEO of Nestlé’s Latin America business zone, said: “Mexico plays a fundamental role in our operations in Latin America, serving as a key market and strategic hub for Nestlé.
“Mexico is at the heart of our growth strategy in the region and we take pride in contributing to its development and success.”
The Silao factory currently produces 125 varieties of dry and 45 varieties of wet pet food and employs almost 600 staff.
Nestlé added that an additional 48-hectare plot of land next to the facility has been purchased for future expansion, which will also entail the construction of a distribution unit to serve the local and overseas markets.
Over the past ten years, Nestlé said the Silao plant has received SFr700m in investment. The facility uses 100% renewable energy and also includes a water treatment plant to enable water reuse in its cooling towers.
“The Mexican market is the most important for Purina in Latin America, representing 45% of Purina's total sales in the region,” Nestlé said in a statement. “It is also the fourth-largest market for Purina worldwide, highlighting the growing importance of emerging economies for the pet-food business.”
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.
