Nestlé to invest R$1 billion in Brazil

The food manufacturer will install a new line and new technologies at its Caçapava and Araçatuba factories. The investment will also cover “digital transformation initiatives​” and startup acceleration, it said.

In addition, the company plans to partner with Investe São Paulo, the investment and competitiveness promotion agency for São Paulo state, which will drive other initiatives, it added.

Nestlé already has a strong presence in São Paolo state where it has invested more than R$2bn over the past five years, including in the Purina wet petfood factory in Ribeirão Preto, two KitKat production lines in Caçapava and a new biscuit line in Marilia.

Its Quality Assurance Center, a food quality laboratory that has partnerships with public universities, is located in the city of Araras.

Marcelo Melchior, CEO of Nestlé Brazil, said in a statement: “The State of São Paulo is very important to our history, it houses our first factory and our headquarters, and we want to continue on this journey of success, growth and investments.”​

The Swiss food company generates 12,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs in São Paulo state.

Just under 29% of all industrial production of food in Brazil is concentrated in São Paulo, including 67% of the country's sugar manufacturing, 45% of canned fruit and vegetables, 19% of dairy products and over one-third (34%) of ground coffee, according to a 2016 survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

Last month, Heineken Brazil, the second-largest brewer in the country, announced a R$550m investment to modernize its factories in the state as part of its national expansion plan.