Company will double Chinese R&D
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Food and health products giant Nestlé says it expects to deliver organic growth of 5 to 6 percent for the year, in line with expectations announced earlier, after showing an 11 percent increase in sales to CHF67.6 million for the first nine months of 2012. Sales grew in all regions and for the first time this year foreign exchange contributed to growth, at 2.7 percent.
“We delivered double-digit growth in emerging markets, where we are expanding our routes to market and enhancing our product offerings. We grew in the intensely competitive developed markets in spite of a general economic malaise and low levels of consumer confidence,” the company’s CEO, Paul Bulcke, said in a statement issued by Nestlé Thursday 18 October.
The Chinese market remains a strong focus and the company said Thursday morning it plans to double its research and development units in China, “to further its understanding of Chinese consumers, ingredients and local cuisine, and provide scientific and technological expertise to the rest of the business in Asia and around the world.”
The decision means Nestlé will build two new R&D units, in Xiamen and Dongguan. They “will also support Nestlé’s joint ventures with Chinese food companies Yinlu and Hsu Fu Chi , as well as working on projects with its R&D centres in other countries”.
