South Africa: Nestle inaugurates instant coffee plant

Nestle South Africa has officially inaugurated its new instant coffee manufacturing plant in Estcourt, KwaZulu Natal following an investment of 1.2 billion ZAR ($84 million).

The expansion includes the construction of a waste water treatment plant, a new coffee processing plant, upgrading of existing coffee processing and a state of the art coffee drying plant, the company said.

The Estcourt factory is one of the first three factories that the company acquired when it first established its presence in South Africa in 1916.

Commenting on the move, Ravi Pillay, Corporate Affairs Director for Nestle South Africa, said: "Investments of this magnitude demonstrate the Nestlé Group’s commitment to long-term business building and the economic development in Africa. Through this investment, we will increase the capacity of our coffee factory and meet the growing consumer demand for coffee in the region. This is also aligned with our ambition of being the world’s leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company while offering our consumers quality, nutritious and affordable products".

In total, Nestle has eight manufacturing facilities, three distribution centres and 3,500 full time permanent employees across South Africa.

Source: Nestle