Nestle Invests GBP 110 million in United Kingdom

Nestlé’s investment in the Tutbury factory is one of several major investments the company has made in its European manufacturing operations this year to meet the growing demand for its products.

Nov 25 2011 --- Nestlé is investing GBP 110 million in its Nescafé Dolce Gusto factory in the United Kingdom, creating 300 new jobs and tripling coffee capsule production.

The investment will expand the factory, located in Tutbury in Derbyshire, and its workforce at a time when UK unemployment is at a 17-year high.

It is the latest in a series of multi-million pound investments Nestlé has made in the United Kingdom over the last five years.

These include: GBP 200 million to transform its confectionery factory in York, GBP 40 million to create a European centre of excellence for Nescafé Cappuccino in Cumbria, and most recently, GBP 35 million to build a new water bottling factory in Buxton.

World class manufacturing

British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the news.

“This new investment by Nestlé and the jobs it will create is brilliant news for UK manufacturing and for the local community,” said Mr Cameron.

“This demonstrates what can be achieved by investing in capacity and people as Nestlé has done consistently over recent years.

“The jobs created by this new investment will benefit both skilled workers and those leaving school who will be able to train in the workplace to become the skilled workers of the future," he continued.

Paul Grimwood, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé UK and Ireland, attended an event in Tutbury to announce the factory expansion.

“We are creating our next generation of world class competitive manufacturing facilities,” said Mr Grimwood.

“We need to continue to innovate to remain ahead of the market and are committed to the ongoing modernisation of our UK manufacturing capabilities.”

Developing talent

Nestlé is a major employer in the UK, with about 7,000 staff across 19 sites.

The factory workforce at Tutbury has grown from 160 to 500 employees since 2006 and will increase to 800 by 2013, following the expansion of the site.

Some of the 300 new employees at Tutbury will form part of the first intake of the ‘Nestlé Academy’.

This new initiative will offer young people apprenticeships, graduate programmes and on the job training to help them build a lasting career with Nestlé.

High speed production

The factory in Tutbury is one of only two production sites for Nescafé Dolce Gusto coffee capsules in the world. The other is located in Girona, Spain.

The investment will equip the Tutbury factory with 12 new high speed production lines to triple its output.  It currently produces about four million capsules a day.

More than 90% of the capsules will be exported to more than 38 countries around the world. They will also be sold in the UK.

Investing in Europe

Nestlé’s investment in the Tutbury factory is one of several major investments the company has made in its European manufacturing operations this year to meet the growing demand for its products.

These include: a EUR 45 million (about CHF 55 million) expansion of its Wagner frozen pizza factory in Germany, a CHF 240 million expansion of its soluble coffee factory in Russia and a CHF 45 million expansion of its Purina pet food factory in Hungary.

It is also the second major investment Nestlé has made in Nescafé Dolce Gusto in 2011. In March the company allocated CHF 64 million to increase production at its factory in Girona.

Booming brand

The Nescafé Dolce Gusto ‘coffee shop at home’ system has grown phenomenally since it came to market in 2006. So far, more than four billion coffee capsules have been sold worldwide.

This year alone, Nescafé Dolce Gusto has been growing at a rate of 50%.

First launched in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK, it is now sold in 41 countries. It had a turnover of CHF 450 million in 2010.

The system can make a variety of a hot and cold drinks, including 16 different types of coffee.

Nestlé in the United Kingdom

Nestlé’s factory in Tutbury was the company’s first manufacturing site in the UK when it opened in 1901.

Originally built to produce condensed milk, the factory was transformed in 1959 to begin manufacturing Nescafé soluble coffee.

Nestlé has invested more than GBP 100 million in the factory over the past five years to strengthen its position as a leading Nescafé production site.

Nestlé manufactures a variety of iconic brands in the UK. These include: Kit Kat, the country’s number one selling biscuit, Quality Street confectionery, Nescafé soluble coffee, and Shredded Wheat cereal.

The company had sales of CHF 3.7 billion in the UK in 2010.

Nestlé is one of the UK’s major food exporters, selling products worth more than GBP 260 million each year to 50 countries around the world.