As it progresses its investment plans to support nutrition, food and health in Mexico, Nestlé turns its attention to innovating production processes, business models and reformulating products to meet what it hails as “the new nutritional needs of Mexicans”.
Investment plans
Nestlé plans to assign $700 million to upgrade and modernize its 17 factories in Mexico. By improving its production facilities with cutting-edge equipment, the company hopes these advancements will enable it to continue implementing its innovation platform.
The funds will be used to introduce state-of-the-art technology to up productivity, advance processes, broaden productive capacity and attain responsible management of natural resources as Nestlé strives to set up its innovation solution.
Centering on “nutritional needs of Mexicans”
Nestlé’s overall goal and focus in 2020 and the coming years is to “meet the nutritional needs of Mexicans in all stages of life”.
Focusing on enhancing nutrition and wellness, Nestlé plans to continue growing its product portfolio in the same way as it has “evolved over time by changing flavors, presentations, and sizes, adding new ingredients and removing others”, a spokesperson for Nestlé revealed.
As it aims to offer life-stage nutrition in Mexico, Nestlé promotes its healthy nutritional profile-led products. The company will continue to center its provision of information on “how to integrate Nestlé products into their daily diets, suggesting portion sizes, and encouraging healthy lifestyles”, the company’s spokesperson continued.
Highlighting the importance of infant and mother nutrition, Nestlé’s spokesperson emphasized that “from the start of pregnancy, the nutrition mothers and babies receive has a crucial impact on their growth and development”. As a result, essential nutrients and ingredients to ensure healthy development are part of the company’s key efforts.
Commenting on its focus on life-stage nutrition, the company adds: “As nutritional needs change for teenagers, adults, and seniors, Nestlé is there to offer products that help our consumers eat well and lead healthy lifestyles at all stages of life.”
Reduced and fortified ingredients in Mexico
Speaking to Nutraingredients-LATAM and emphasizing nutritional strength, Nestlé’s spokesperson stated that products designed to address the nutritional needs of Mexicans are a core nutritional offering due to the role they play in consumers’ diets.
Single-ingredient products, mainly water and soluble coffee, and complementary food products are the company’s other key target markets.
Designed to provide “essential nutrients and ingredients to complement consumers’ daily nutritional needs”, Nestlé has created its advanced recovery program that classifies its nutritionally-enhanced products based on their contents.
To appeal to consumers’ nutritional demands, Nestlé’s spokesperson revealed that it will be promoting a range of items to its Mexican consumers, including:
- Products with reduced sugar, fat, sodium, or lactose content for special dietary uses or consumer sensitivities.
- Products fortified with nutrients or ingredients to benefit consumers, such as minerals and vitamins, including probiotics, prebiotics, HMOs, and DHA, as tailored solutions for consumer health and nutrition.
- Products with reduced and fortified ingredients, such as drinks made with a combination of DHA, probiotics, vitamins, and minerals.
All stages of life nutrition
The company is centering the manufacturing and development of its food and beverage items on launching healthier products and simplifying ingredients. It also aims to add micronutrients when they are deficient in the populations of the countries where it operates.
The innovation plans come after Nestlé, for the first time, presented two scientific publications on maternal and child nutrition in Mexico in December 2019: “Maternal and Child Nutrition” and “Complementary feeding, bases for the introduction of new foods to the infant”.
Nestlé Mexico also revealed in December 2019 that it had collaborated with the System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF) of Ocotlán to support maternal and infant nutrition.
Accelerating innovation
Nestlé’s innovation platform will also explore new schemes, technologies and business models that, if executed, will enable its teams to prioritize innovation and leadership in key categories for the brand.
The total investment amount includes $200 million to finalize the first phase of construction of the brand’s new coffee factory in Veracruz, Mexico, which Nestle announced in November 2019.
The plant will process 20,000 tons of coffee per year, which will be obtained from Mexican coffee growers, using modern equipment and green technologies to reduce water and energy consumption. The innovation-centric plant is expected to start operations in the final quarter of 2020.
Shared Value Creation
Alongside launching its innovation and investment platform, Grupo Nestlé México will also implement its shared value creation actions for the benefit of the Mexican communities it works with: “The national market represents a priority for our operations since the confidence of our Mexican consumers has led Nestlé Mexico to represent the fifth most relevant market for the company worldwide and the second for Latin America,” said Laurent Freixe, CEO of Nestlé for the Americas Zone.