Nestlé South Africa, a prominent food and beverage company, unveiled a new manufacturing facility at its Babalegi, Hammanskraal site in July. The purpose of this facility is to produce the Nescafé Gold line of coffee mixes locally. The investment for this project amounted to R79 million, covering the acquisition of new equipment and training for 27 new employees. Marleny Arnoldi, a visitor to the plant, reported on the event.
Arnoldi noted that the newly established plant is situated on the same premises where Nestlé currently produces Maggi instant noodles and Cremora coffee creamer. The latter is a crucial component in the coffee mixes being manufactured.
The Nescafé Gold coffee mix collection includes various cappuccino flavors such as original cappuccino, reduced sugar cappuccino, salted caramel latte, hazelnut latte, vanilla latte, and white chocolate.
Previously imported, the coffee mixes will now be crafted using 46% locally sourced ingredients, with an annual production capacity of 5,500 tons.
Nestlé East and Southern Africa’s Chief Engineer, Sean Weavill, discussed the new equipment installed in the plant and elaborated on the coffee mix production process.
Furthermore, the majority of the production is intended for domestic consumption, while around 10% will be exported to other African nations or internationally. The production rate is being adjusted according to market demand.
Weavill also provided details on the current production rates, the locally sourced ingredients, and Nestlé’s experiments with locally produced coffee as a raw material for the coffee mixes.
Sashnee Moodley concluded by mentioning that this update was presented in Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report, inviting the audience to tune in for more insights into South Africa’s economic landscape in the following week.