€80 million: the impact of Purina’s new investment in Italy

Nestlé has recently confirmed its plans to invest €472 million ($504M) in constructing a new pet food plant in the Valdaro industrial area in Mantua, 180 km east of Milan.

The new 180,000-square-meter facility is expected to be fully operational by 2027 and create 300 new jobs. It will also feature a logistics hub. 

“The project is currently in the planning phase, and we will share relevant news as it progresses,” says a spokesperson of Nestlé Purina Europe. 

Adolfo Urso, Minister for Business and Made in Italy, welcomes the new investment. “The desire to strengthen its presence in Italy by a significant multinational such as Nestlé confirms the renewed centrality of our country for the production sites of important global companies,” he says. 

The impact

Marco Travaglia, President and CEO of Nestlé Italiana, further recognized the “rapidly developing” pet sector.

According to the Italian government, the new facility will have a “significant” impact on the supply chain. It is estimated to contribute €50 million annually to agricultural products and €30 million to packaging and industrial services. 

More than 20% of Nestlé’s sales in 2023 were pet products. The multinational’s pet portfolio was the second-best performing category in terms of sales, hot on the heels of its coffee, cocoa and malt beverage businesses.

The investment in Italy arrived weeks after the multinational announced a capital injection of HUF55 billion ($151M/€139.7M) into its 2020-established Purina facility in the Hungarian town of Bük, striving for its total annual capacity to reach 500,000 tons by 2025.