Nestlé has opened the world’s largest bouillon factory in Shanghai to meet rising demand for the Totole brand product.
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The company holds an 80% stake in a joint venture with Shanghai Totole Food. The new CNY320m(US$46.9m) factory will employ 1,500 staff and produce more than 100,000 tons of bouillon, doubling current capacity.
Chinese consumers are becoming more demanding as incomes rise, according to Nestlé. “They expect a richer ‘xianwei’ taste [similar to umami] while facing more time constraints, particularly in urban areas: bouillons are fulfilling these needs,” said a spokesman.
Totole is the leading bouillon brand in China and one of Nestlé’s strongest performing products along with its Nescafé, milk products and wafers.
Nestlé’s China sales have grown 12-13% so far this year compared with 2008 and the company expects to record growth of 20% or more in the last quarter of this year, said Patrice Bula, chief executive of Nestlé China in an interview in Shanghai.
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By GlobalDataThe company plans to introduce new nutritional products in the fourth quarter, including a milk drink containing traditional Chinese medicine ingredients.
In 2008, Nestlé’s China sales reached CNY14bn.The company has 21 factories in China and makes about 98% of its products for China locally.
