Unilever has opened a factory in Colombia for local food brands Fruco and Del Huerto.
The facility is at the consumer goods giant’s existing production complex in the city of Palmira in the south west of the country.
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The hub has three other plants making home and personal care products. The newly-built factory makes dressings sold under the Fruco and Del Huerto brands.
“By centralising our operations in Palmira, we are able to improve logistical efficiency, optimise our supply chain, and strengthen our ability to respond to local market demands,“ Unilever said.
The hub is the fourth-largest Unilever production centre in Latin America. It employs 1,200 people and supplies customers in Colombia and 16 other countries in Latin America. Unilever LATAM’s food division owns 13 brands including Hellmann’s, Knorr, Cica and Fanacoa.
The company did not disclose how many new jobs the expansion created upon being asked by Just Food.
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By GlobalDataLast August, Unilever invested in two Mexican food plants to increase production capacity to supply the local and international markets.
The FMCG major said the factories in Tultitlán and Lerma, located in the north-east and south-east of Mexico, respectively, would receive 5.5bn pesos (currently $325m) to improve infrastructure, add new equipment and buy technologies to optimise water and energy usage. The projects are expected to be completed by 2024.
Last month, further north in the US, the world’s largest ice cream maker expanded its portfolio of frozen desserts with the acquisition of US frozen Greek yogurt brand Yasso.
Unilever said the deal aligned with its “premiumisation strategy” for its ice cream business, with Yasso joining brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Talenti.
