Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad is investing more than RM100 million (US$24 million) to expand its MILO factory in Chembong, in line with its strategy of driving strong, profitable and sustainable growth and investing in Malaysia as a key manufacturing hub for the Nestlé Group. Subsequently, French dairy group, Lactalis will acquire and take over operations of the PJ factory as well as Nestlé’s market-leading Chilled Dairy business.

Lactalis plans to establish Malaysia as the operations hub of its Dairy business in ASEAN with plans to drive growth through an expanded portfolio of exciting new products.

The Nestlé expansion is part of the company’s drive to improve efficiency and enhance competitiveness and will see the group establishing its Chembong Factory as the world’s biggest MILO Manufacturing Centre of Excellence.

Nestlé Malaysia will be moving all existing MILO manufacturing operations from its Petaling Jaya (PJ) Factory to consolidate and expand MILO production at the Chembong Factory.

“This move is an investment to strengthen our Nestlé presence in Malaysia further. The MILO plant in Chembong is an integral part of the company’s business, supplying MILO domestically and contributing exports to over 20 countries,” says Alois Hofbauer, CEO of Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad.

“Through the concentration of our MILO operations and our investment of over RM100 million into the Chembong factory, we will not only be able to upgrade production facilities further and improve operational efficiencies but also scale up capacity and make Chembong the biggest MILO Manufacturing Center in the Nestlé world. This will help us to meet growing local and export demand better.”

“Nestlé remains positive on the Malaysian market and Malaysia as an export hub and we look forward to unlocking more growth opportunities in the future. We see great potential that these investments will allow us to strengthen our focus on strategic core businesses that can deliver good long-term growth and are aligned with evolving consumer needs. At the same time, this initiative will pave the way for the Chilled Dairy business and PJ factory to flourish under the new leadership of Lactalis,” adds Hofbauer.