Nestlé signs contract for first manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia

Nestlé is to build its first food factory in Saudi Arabia after signing a contract commiting to the project.

The Saudi Press Agency, the country’s state news agency, reported yesterday (15 September) that Nestlé has signed up for a 117,000 sq m plot in Jeddah’s Third Industrial City.

The site will focus on making infant-nutrition products when it opens next year. Nestlé is investing an initial SAR270m ($72m) on the project, the report said.

The announcement makes good on a promise made by the KitKat confectionery and Maggi sauces owner in late 2022 when it said it would invest SAR7bn in Saudi Arabia over ten years, including on the building of a manufacturing site.

At the time, Nestlé described the initiative then as a strategic move to grow its long-standing business in Saudi Arabia.

The plans also chimes with the country’s Vision 2030 strategy, which involves having more food produced locally as a food security measure.

The announcement yesterday from The Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON) via the Saudi Press Agency said the project is expected to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs during its first phase. The factory will have an initial annual production capacity of 15,000 tons.

Just Food