The company already has a Dar Natury factory which it opened 17 years ago in Czestoniew in the center part of Poland but saw a need for an additional factory to satisfy demand in the home and office delivery market.
Investment
More than €5m was therefore invested in the building of the new facility in Rzeniszow, in the south of the country. The factory, which covers an area of 36,000m2 and has the capacity to produce 40m litres of a year, will focus on the manufacture of large 18.9 litre bottles for office and home use.
Nestle Waters expects to create 45 jobs with the opening of the new factory.
The company said the location, close to Krakow, offers good access to big distribution areas but was selected for the quality of the water in Rzeniszow. It claims the water is characterised by a low content of sodium bicarbonate with a predominance of calcium and magnesium perfect for everyday consumption.
John Harris, CEO Nestle Waters, said: “This new investment should contribute to accelerate the development plans of the company in Poland in a balanced way. We hope that it will reach the expected results, not only for us but also to our customers.”
Polish growth
Currently Nestle Waters is the second biggest bottled water firm in Poland with sales of about €90m in 2009. Last year volumes were up 2.2 per cent and value rose 1.3 per cent.
This is in contrast to performance in Western Europe where the recession and concern about the environmental impact of bottled water put downward pressure on sales. Nestle Waters, which is the number one bottled water company worldwide, recorded a 1.4 per cent drop in organic retail sales.
Figures from the research firm Canadean suggest that the global bottled water market grew 2 per cent in 2009, largely thanks to high growth China, which offset declines in Western Europe and the North America.