Nestle India has chosen Himachal Pradesh for its ninth manufacturing facility in the country. The new facility to manufacture chocolate and noodles may entail an investment of “anywhere between Rs 400 to 500 crore”.

Besides, Nestle also plans to add capacity to its existing units in Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Karnataka; and a new R&D facility in Haryana. Overall, the company has budgeted investment of Rs 1,800 crore in the next two to three years, said Mr Antonio Helio Waszyk, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestle India.

Fielding questions from the media at a press conference here to announce the launch of its new Nescafe Sunrise and TV commercials featuring film star couple Surya and Jyotika, he said the company has already invested Rs 360 crore of the proposed investments in a new facility that's coming up at Nanjangud to manufacture instant noodles and another Rs 500 crore on its Goa facility, where it manufactures confectionery.

Answering a question on the company's target share of the noodles market, he said, “Nestle is not fighting for a piece of cake. I am here to bake a new cake for ourselves.”

According to him, the coffee business “is not big enough for Nestle”. Nescafe was lagging behind Nestle's other products in the market till October 2010. However, after the brand's new campaign featuring Deepika Padukone, it started performing well, he said, adding that Nescafe is now the market leader with 37 per share.

Nestle procures coffee berry entirely from India. To a question on whether there is cost pressure and whether the company would consider increasing prices, he said there is remarkable inflation in the prices of coffee berry, “mounting pressure on our margins”. However, the company's plan is to introduce a new technology in manufacturing so as to increase yield, in the first place. “Secondly, we will introduce a range of value-added products and finally, of course, may increase the prices,” said Mr Waszyk.

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