Nestle boosting exports to grow Halal market share
by Joy Lee
PETALING
JAYA: Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, a unit of the Swiss food giant Nestle SA,
is ramping up production at its factory here to boost exports towards
increasing its share of the global halal food market.
“The global halal
market is growing. There is even a growing trend among non-Muslim
communities asking for halal-certified products and we want to use
Malaysia as a hub for the expansion of halal Nestle products,” its
managing director Sullivan O’Carroll told reporters after the launch of
its “Affordable Nutrition MILO” campaign here yesterday.
The food and beverage
maker expects to increase annual production capacity of its factory
here to 250,000 tonnes by 2015 from its current 90,000 tonnes to meet
its export demands. The factory produces Milo, milk powder, culinary
sauces and chilled dairy.
O’Carroll said the
target for 2015 was part of its long-term plan to expand capacity
towards maintaining its growth. “The only way to grow is to increase
our capacity,” he said.
He said the global
halal market was expected to grow at about 15% to 20% a year. “We don’t
have a figure of Nestle’s market share in that but we are going to
increase our presence in the halal market through our exports,”
O’Carroll said.
He said export revenue
contributed about 22% of the total RM3.4 billion revenue in 2007.
Nestle has invested about RM340 million over the last three years to
expand its three factories in Selangor.
“We export various
products to over 50 countries worldwide. There is a growing demand for
our products especially in the Southeast Asian region,” he said. He
added Africa, Asia and Oceania would be its growth markets moving
forward due to the growing population.
Net profit for its
third quarter ended Sept 30, 2008 dropped 24.5% to RM87.5 million from
a year earlier due to higher raw and packaging material prices.