Swiss multinational Nestlé has confirmed that it will invest US $160 million in its pet food plant in León, Guanajuato.
The public confirmation came after Guanajuato Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo met with Nestlé executives in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday. The company first announced its intention to invest in the plant in October 2020.
The investment will allow Nestlé to increase its annual production of dry food by 33% to 285,000 tonnes. Wet food production will increase 108% to 25,000 tonnes annually.
The Guanajuato government said in a statement that the $160 million injection will generate more than 200 direct jobs and over 1,700 indirect ones.
“… This investment makes provision for the integration of high-technology equipment, control systems, automatization, tools focused on the digitalization of data and systems that will increase [Nestlé’s] production capacity,” the government said.
“… the expansion will generate new work opportunities in the operation of new processing lines, meeting Nestlé’s focus to boost the employability of Mexican talent in locations such as Silao, Irapuato, Romita, León, Celaya, Cortázar, Salamanca, San Luis de la Paz and [Guanajuato city].”
The plant is located in the Guanajuato Puerto Interior, a dry port facility about 25 kilometers southeast of downtown León.
Sinhue said that confirmation of Nestlé’s investment is good news for Guanajuato, asserting that it was a sign of the reactivation of the state’s economy.
“We’re working to continue generating better employment conditions for Guanajuato residents,” the National Action Party governor said.
Sinhue said that Nestlé, which has been operating in Mexico since 1930, could invest additional resources in the state in the future.
Laurent Freixe, Nestlé’s Americas chief, said the company has a long-term commitment to Mexico and its people.
“… Investments like this … as well as future investments and the main initiatives of the company are a sign of the confidence we have in the potential of Mexico and its people,” he said.
Another European company that is betting that Guanajuato – an industrial hub (and Mexico’s most violent state) – is a good place to manufacture its products is the Italian firm Proma, which makes components for the automotive sector.
Sinhue announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he had visited the firm and that its executives committed to investing 130 million pesos (US $6.5 million) to build a plant in the state.
“This project will generate more than 250 direct and indirect jobs in an initial development of 5,000 square meters in its first stage,” Sinhue wrote, adding that the plant would be eventually be triple that size.
“The Proma management team acknowledged that Guanajuato has the technology and innovation ecosystem for the operation of the company,” he wrote.
Mexico News Daily
