Nestlé has opened a research and development centre (R&D) in Beijing, as well as a system technology hub in Shenzhen, China, as part of its strategy to speed up trend-based innovations in the country.

The R&D centre is located close to the Nestlé China headquarters and features prototyping and packaging labs besides a consumer insight area. It is equipped to create new food and beverage products for Chinese and other Asian markets.

This centre employs over 40 specialists across several product categories, who will collaborate with innovation partners and local universities.

The centre also accommodates the Nestlé Food Safety Institute.

Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider said: “China is one of the fastest-changing food and beverage markets in the world, and a significant growth driver for Nestlé. We are strengthening our local R&D capabilities so that our teams can work faster and more efficiently to turn great ideas into the latest must-have products for consumers in China.”

Serving as an extension of the Nestlé system technology centre in Orbe, Switzerland, the Shenzhen system technology hub in China is located close to several beverage machine and system manufacturers.

Engineers at the technology hub will also develop new systems relevant to the firm’s global beverage businesses.

Nestlé CTO Stefan Palzer said: “We are constantly looking for opportunities to increase the speed of our trend-based innovation. The proximity of the R&D team to the Nestlé China headquarters and of the system technology hub to our suppliers and manufacturers will enable a strong collaboration that will help Nestlé push the boundaries by bringing breakthrough innovations to the market faster.”

In 2018, Nestlé launched an incubator team in China. This team released several ready-to-drink herbal drinks and soups with traditional Chinese ingredients.