70% of Milka’s portfolio will be produced locally, doubling the capacity of the Victoria plant.
The new production line of Kraft Foods Argentina, inaugurated this afternoon by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, will allow 70 percent of the Milka brand portfolio to be produced locally.
The chocolate line installed at the company’s factory in the city of Victoria, San Fernando County, is part of a $100 million investment plan that the company has developed over the past 4 years.
The President of Kraft Foods Argentina, Juan Garibaldi, noted that “after 12 years, the company Milka is returning to the production of chocolate in Argentina today”, at an event led by President Fernández de Kirchner together with the President of Kraft Foods Latin America, Gustavo Abelenda.
For the manager, the new phase has been achieved “thanks to the context of growth that Argentina has” and “the context of social inclusion that has allowed a certain number of Argentines who can consume these products to be included in the middle class.”
At the meeting, it was pointed out that based on significant investments, 70 percent of Milka’s portfolio will be produced locally, which will double the chocolate capacity of the Victoria factory.
In order to once again produce Milka in the country, Argentine technicians carried out an innovative development that allowed Victoria to become “the first Kraft Foods factory in the world to be able to produce Milka and Cadbury products with the same equipment.”
This development made it possible to “guarantee the highest international quality standards”, which made it easier for local Argentina to export inputs and raw materials to Kraft Foods subsidiaries in other countries.
The Victoria plant has a covered area of 21 thousand square meters on a property of 50 thousand and the company employs about 5000 people directly and another 4000 indirectly in a number of plants installed in the country.
Among others, brands such as Milka, Beldent, Halls, Cadbury, Mantecol, Bazooka, Lengüetazo, Palitos de la Selva, Yummy are produced there.
Most of the production is intended for the domestic market, and the rest is exported to destinations such as Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Source: Terra
