Tetra Pak plans upgrade of Nairobi factory to regional hub

Dennis Jönsson, president and CEO of Tetra Pak Group. Photo/Courtesy 

By DAVID HERBLING

inShare

Packaging firm Tetra Pak will upgrade its Nairobi factory to a regional sales hub which will cater for 13 African countries.

The Swiss-based company said it was eyeing opportunities for packaging milk products, juices and wines in the fast-growing region which has seen the middle class increasingly turn to packed foods.

Tetra Pak said it projects increased growth in uptake of long-life and flavoured milk as well as fresh fruit juices which will whet the market’s appetite for the company’s packaging products.

Presently, its Kenyan office is in charge of four countries including Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The upgraded plant will be operational from March, said Dennis Jönsson, president and CEO of Tetra Pak Group.

The nine new Africa countries that will fall under Nairobi including Ethiopia, Tanzania and South Sudan are currently being manned by general managers.

Unique position

The multinational will join a growing list of global firms including BAT, Google, IBM and Visa which have picked Nairobi as one of the main hubs in Africa.

“We will leverage on Kenya’s unique geographical position and our local factory capacity to service the regional market from Nairobi,” said Mr Jönsson.

“We see a lot of potential in dairy value added products such as yoghurt and flavoured milk in line with the growing middle class in Eastern Africa.”

Increased uptake

Tetra Pak set up in its Eastern Africa operations in Nairobi in 1956 offering food processors packaging materials, supplies and services equipment such as liquid food processing plants, filling machines and distribution equipment.

The company moved 130 million packages in Kenya last year and said it projects growth of 14 per cent riding on increased uptake of value-added dairy products. It is now eying the water industry to replace bottles with its packages.

In Kenya, Tetra Pak works with dairy processors Brookside, Githunguri Dairy (Fresha milk) and New KCC as well as  juice makers like Coca Cola (Minute Maid) Del Monte and Kevian (Pick’N’Peel).

Tetra Pak said that although long-life milk constitutes 98 per cent of its Kenyan business, it is pegging growth on flavoured milk products, yoghurt, and fermented milk driven by the growing middle class and children who enjoy such products.

The firm also argues that value added dairy products offer higher returns to processors, besides offering health and nutritional benefits to consumers.