The Swiss food and drinks company Nestlé announced a US $154-million investment in Veracruz during a meeting yesterday with President López Obrador.

The company plans to install a coffee processing plant that will create 2,750 direct and indirect jobs and have the capacity to process 20,000 tonnes of coffee beans every year.

The facility will be equipped with water treatment and recirculation plants and will make use of 100% of the coffee husks to generate power. All the electricity it uses will be 100% renewable energy.

Nestlé said its buys raw materials from more than 10,000 producers annually in Veracruz. During the 2017-2018 harvest season, the company bought 340,000 69-kilogram bags of coffee in the state and provided technical support to more than 5,000 producers.

Nestlé México CEO Fausto Costa said: “We are very pleased to share joint objectives with president Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his team. We both believe in supporting young people, where Nestlé has been a pioneer in the country. We also both believe in the strengthening of the Mexican countryside and the importance of accelerating the growth of the southeast region.

“This new investment in Veracruz confirms our commitment to Mexico and its people; the country’s economic stability and competitiveness have been fundamental factors to strengthen us as Nestlé’s fifth largest market worldwide,” added Costa.

“Nestlé’s newest global investment comes to Mexico and will boost the country’s coffee production, a priority item for the new [federal] government,” he continued, remarking also that the announcement was proof of the firm’s trust in the country and its future.

With the new plant, Costa said, Mexico will become Nestlé’s most important coffee-producing country.

Source: El Financiero (sp), FoodBev Media (en)