Nestlé will invest R$600m in a new Minas Gerais factory
Nestlé is planning a new manufacturing unit in Ituiutuba, in Minas Gerais, with an investment of R$600m. The factory will be dedicated to infant formulas and will be integrated into the industrial structure that the company already maintains in the location.
The unit is also intended to strengthen supplies to the Brazilian market. Some formulas in Nestlé’s current portfolio are produced at facilities in Germany or Turkey. The company said it expects the new factory to reduce those imports significantly, but did not disclose a target percentage.
Exports are not part of the plant’s initial objectives. Citrângulo said the expansion could create opportunities for foreign sales later, although Nestlé has not identified countries or specific markets for any such activity.
The Minas Gerais project is included in a broader R$2bn programme for Nestlé’s Nutrition and Health division in Brazil through 2028. The company plans to spend R$540m on modernising its Araçatuba factory in São Paulo, including operational-efficiency measures, new technologies and increased production capacity.
A further R$60m is earmarked for the resumption of operations at Nestlé’s whey factory in Carazinho, Rio Grande do Sul, still in 2026. Whey is used in the production of infant formulas. After the facility resumes operations, the company plans to increase its whey output by 15% by 2029.
Created in 2026, Nestlé’s Nutrition and Health division brought together businesses that had previously operated separately, including infant, medical and adult nutrition. Marcelo Melchior, the chief executive of Nestlé Brasil, said the division was among the company’s four global and Brazilian strategic growth priorities. Its stated focus is on higher-value categories supported by investment in research, development and production technologies.
Nestlé says the division has about 800 scientists worldwide and receives roughly US$1.8bn a year for research and development related to nutrition, health and wellbeing. In Brazil, the company employs more than 30,000 people directly and indirectly and operates 18 industrial units across seven states: Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Bahia, Pernambuco, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul and Espírito Santo. Its local network also includes 12 distribution centres and more than 70 brokers.
