Nestle Invests in the Development of Its Largest Milk District in China

SHUANGCHENG, Heilongjiang Province, China, January 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

- MOU with Shuangcheng government leading to RMB 2.5 billion investment

Today Mr. Mao Chen, Mayor of Shuangcheng, and Mr. Zhan Yudong, Director of Production Technology of Nestle in Greater China Region, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the two sides. The MOU will urge both sides to jointly develop the modern dairy farming and ensure the milk district, which is already Nestle's largest fresh milk supply base in China, becomes a leading milk district under the most professional management and the nation's benchmark for best practice in dairy farming and management. Under the agreement, a total investment of RMB 2.5 billion will be made in the milk district over the next five years through a partnership between Nestle, the local government, investors and farmers. The partnership will promote high quality and efficient dairy farming methods using modern technology and professional knowledge.

The agreement will help all the farmers working alone or on small farms in the milk district to be relocated to professionally managed dairy farms or large scale pastures, and will help those who own larger farms to scale up their facilities and use more modern practices. To this end, Nestle and the Shuangcheng government have invested RMB 10 million to purchase 1,000 sets of milking machines.

Mr. Roland Decorvet, Chairman and CEO of Nestle China said: The plan will continue to make Shuangcheng the nation's benchmark for high quality and reliable fresh milk. It also underscores Nestle's commitment to grow its dairy business in China in a long-term and sustainable way. The Shuangcheng government highly commended the long-term cooperation between the two sides and said will that the government would do its share to work with Nestle and the partners to accelerate modern dairy development.