Nestlé Confectionery Plant

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Nestle inaugurated its first chocolate factory in Egypt in June. Image courtesy of Nestle. The factory in Egypt produces the Crunch brand of chocolate. Image courtesy of Captain USA. Crunch bar is the first chocolate-based snack to be produced by Nestle in Egypt. Image courtesy of Nestle. Swiss food giant Nestlé opened its first confectionery plant in Egypt in June. The new facility produces the chocolate-based Crunch snack bar for the domestic market and plans to further increase production for export to North African countries such as Libya in the future. The new chocolate factory is part of Nestlé’s EGP1bn investment plan announced for Egypt in 2011 to meet the rising demands for its products in the country and to produce more confectionery brands for supply in the domestic market. The new chocolate factory is an extension to Nestlé’s existing dry goods factory for products such as Maggi and Nescafé. The factory is situated at 6th of October City, a satellite town located 30km from the Cairo city in Egypt. Nestlé had previously opened an EGP200m (approximately $27.89m) ice cream factory at 6th of October City in November 2013. The total cost incurred for building the new chocolate production facility was EGP65m (approximately $9m). Nestlé had secured a $20m loan facility from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance the investment for its ice cream and confectionery production capacity expansions in Egypt. Mars began construction of a new chocolate production line in Egypt in June 2013. Nestlé Egypt’s new chocolate factory was built by adding a new extrusion line to the company’s existing dry goods factory, in order to produce the Crunch bar product. The new manufacturing facility is estimated to have created 400 direct job opportunities and more than one hundred indirect jobs. Nestlé chose to expand production in Egypt as the country is considered to be an important trade and production centre for the regions of Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East. The country has also attracted significant investments from major food and beverage retailers such as Coca-Cola Co, PepsiCo and Saudi Arabia’s Almarai. Extrusion is a process used to give foods a specific shape or texture. Nestlé uses three types of extrusion processes: hot extrusion used to make infant food and breakfast cereals, co-extrusion used for filled bars and snacks, and cold extrusion for chocolates and ice creams. Madina Engineering & Construction was engaged as the civil contractor for the construction of the new plant. The scope of works included electrical installation, testing panels, cables and other control devices for the Ammonia Compressors station at the project site. A wholly owned subsidiary of Nestlé, Nestlé Egypt is a joint stock company incorporated in Egypt in October 1988; however, Nestlé has been present in Egypt since 1870. The company specialises in manufacturing and distribution of ice cream, coffee, milk powder, infant nutrition, bouillon, confectionery and food items. It exports about 10% to 15% of the dry goods produced in Egypt to countries in Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Middle East regions. Nestlé currently has a local workforce of around 6,000 employees in Egypt, and is also building a new factory for Maggi bouillon cubes in Dubai.

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