THE Anglo-Dutch Caribbean arm of Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate Nestlé has set itself on a course to deepen its roots in the region by improving linkages to the agriculture sector, upgrading an existing plant and expanding the product portfolio in the region and export market.

Josué de la Maza, head of market for the Anglo-Dutch Caribbean, outlined to the Jamaica Observer a plan which includes a US$4-million investment this year to support the modernisation of the company’s Valsayn plant in Trinidad and Tobago as well as the innovation in its plant-based portfolio. The company also said it will coordinate a marketing campaign across the region to increase brand building.

“Our strategic direction is to leverage some of these very strong brands like Maggi, like Milo, like Nescafé, which are part of the Caribbean culture…and develop that further through expansion of new categories,” de la Maza told the Caribbean Business Report from his office in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

“Nestlé in the Caribbean has strong roots and a strong portfolio of brands. We have been in the Caribbean for a long time. In Jamaica we’ve been there since 1939 and built the first factory in 1940.”

Nestlé coordinates its Anglo-Dutch Caribbean business in three divisions — Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the oddly named Nestlé Caribbean Islands division which caters to the other English-speaking countries in the region including mainland territories such as Guyana and Belize, as well as the Dutch islands and Suriname. The Anglo-Dutch Caribbean entity was created in 2018 through the merger of Nestlé Jamaica, Nestlé Trinidad and Tobago, and Nestlé Caribbean Incorporated. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago account for 60 per cent of Nestlé sales in the Anglo-Dutch Caribbean.

The company first entered the regional market in 1914 through a trading agency in Trinidad and Tobago selling its condensed milk and chocolates.

Moving into the second century in the region, de la Maza, who was appointed the head of the Anglo-Dutch Caribbean business in September 2021, says the focus is on “continuous growth in the mid-single digits” for the next few years.

In Jamaica alone, de la Maza said the company has launched over 40 innovations in the last few years — mainly pepper sauces and jerk seasonings — under the Maggi brand.

“We have other examples like Nescafé. Nescafé, is a well-known brand, but we have a sub-variety of Nescafé which is Nescafé Gold, that is a premium coffee. It’s been there for some time, but we are planning to put more investments behind it to develop it further because coffee is a category that [we] can develop,” he said of another product that will be pushed more to Caribbean consumers.

“We leverage the Blue Mountain coffee through Nespresso espresso [which] is one of our most sophisticated coffees in the world. We don’t sell it directly in the Caribbean, but there are people who have imported the machines on their own and they buy the capsules. And we are actually proud to say that we [bought] 25 per cent of the Blue Mountain coffee production. We did that in 2021.”

The Nestlé chief would, however, not commit to a purchase target for Blue Mountain coffee in 2022, but said the support will continue through a programme being developed with Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Nestlé sells the product in capsules through its Nespresso coffee brand as a premium coffee to consumers all over the world.

But buying Blue Mountain coffee is not the only agricultural support Nestlé is providing to the region.

“We are working also on a sustainable farm. We’re working to improve the feed for cows. We’re collecting 80 per cent of the milk in TT today as Nestlé. We’re working with the youth. We have a young veterinarian programme. We have like over 300 young veterinarian students impacted through this across the Caribbean.”

Fast-growing Guyana, which is expected to see strong growth in disposable income over the next few years as it ramps up oil exports, is also being targeted.

“Some of these areas like Guyana that has very strong growth in consumption, we will focus on. Although I must say consumption is not growing as fast as the economy yet, but growth will come. We believe that there will be opportunity for growth in premiumisation, meaning elevating the level of consumption in Guyana, because people will start improving their living standards and they will start earning more. So, for example, if [we sell] Nescafé [in Guyana], we can drive Nescafé Gold, for example. So that, that is definitely one area where we will focus and that covers many of our different brands. Even when you talk about, infant formula, we can drive a better quality of infant formula in that regard in Nescafé milks.”

“But not only Guyana. Eastern Caribbean islands are also, we believe, with very good potential in terms of development in the coming years. We’ve been through a couple of very rough years through the pandemic and all the tourism is coming back to these places and it’s coming back in my opinion, strong,” de la Maza said, indicating that his marketing team is scouring the region leaving no stones unturned in the quest for growth.

“If we look at St Lucia, we have a strong Maggi bullion, but we have opportunities to grow Maggi soups,” he adds. “So we’re going to start tackling some of the areas of the key brands that we can grow further, through the right investment, local investment, in local media, in digital media, and, of course, driving coverage and distribution.”

“We also have line extension. So I’ll give you an example. Plant-based products, almond milks, coconut milk, whey milk, all these [plant-based] milk [substitutes] are growing like 20 per cent across the Caribbean or more [each year]. That’s got huge growth [potential] and we’re entering that. We have a brand called Nature’s Heart. We’re going to start producing locally in Trinidad and Tobago…we will start producing in a few months and exporting that all through the Caribbean.”

Other brands such as its KitKat chocolates are also on the block for expanded sale.

“KitKat chocolate…exists Jamaica, it exists in Guyana, it exists here in Trinidad and Tobago, and many of our islands. But it’s distribution can improve. So we’re going to be focusing on that to make it grow, to have more visibility at the point of purchase. And that will also help us grow.”

“Today we only export [across the region], but I can tell you that our objective with the plant-based milk, opens tremendous opportunities to export to Central America and to certain parts of South America.”