Purina starts the construction of a new pet food factory in Brazil
The plant, located in the southern state of Santa Catarina, will be fully operational by the end of 2023 to cope with increased demand.
The Nestlé subsidiary said that the planned investment for the first phase of the unit, which runs from 2022 to 2023, is R$ 1 billion ($197.8M / €181.2M).
The new unit is expected to deal with the growing demand of domestic and foreign markets for wet food for dogs and cats, consolidate the growth in Brazil and expand exports in Australia and Mexico this year.
The company also expected to increase exports to Russia this 2022, but its recent announcement of a temporary suspension in all operations to the country due to the Ukraine invasion has placed this on hold.
“This is a great opportunity for us to expand Nestlé Purina’s operations in Brazil and accelerate the growth agenda that has been fundamental to the positive results in our market, with Purina advancing above the sector,” said Nestlé Brazil CEO Marcelo Melchior.
The new facility will be equipped with the so-called 4.0 concept, with an innovative and exclusive Purina technology for wet foods, with increased production capacity due to automated lines and robots in operations such as filling, packaging and sterilization.
According to Nestlé, the new factory will add value to the region’s production chains after increasing demand for “essential” inputs for the pet food segment, mainly animal protein and grains.
The Associação Brasileira da Indústria de Produtos para Animais de Estimação (Abinpet) estimates that the food segment accounts for 75% of the pet market, followed by the veterinary (17%) and care (8%). the total handled in the country in 2020 was R$ 27billion ($5.3B / €4.8B), an increase of 21,2% against 2019.
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