Govt urges Nestle to ramp up exports to $100m

The government on Wednesday urged Nestle Pakistan to increase its exports by four times to $100 million in the next six years, which is double the target the company is planning to achieve by exporting its food products.

Nestle Pakistan announced its commitment to increase the packaged food exports to $50 million till 2030. The company earned $23 million from exports this year by selling products to 26 nations, said Jason Avancena, Chief Executive Officer of Nestle Pakistan.

Nestle should target more than $100 million in exports as the company had that big potential due to its global footprint, said Federal Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain. He acknowledged Nestle's role in boosting multi-category packaged food exports. Nestle has expanded its export footprint to 26 countries of Europe, North America, the Middle East, Central Asia and East Asia with $23 million of shipments in 2024.

Pakistan does not have a single company having $1 billion in annual exports and there is hardly one textile firm that has crossed the $500 million mark. The textile sector has availed of billions of dollars in subsidies and incentives over the past three decades.

IPSOS – a global survey firm – in its latest edition states that Pakistani people trust and prefer foreign brands over local ones. Nestle is a Swiss company working in the South Asian nation since 1988.

Talking about Nestle's success, Federal Minister for Industries Rana Tanveer Hussain said, "As Pakistan progresses towards economic growth and recovery, the importance of exports cannot be overstated. Given the scale of Nestle's global operations, we anticipate that exports from Pakistan will scale up further in the next few years."

"Nestle Pakistan's vision for export growth directly contributes to the government's efforts to shore up foreign reserves and their success is a testament to the resilience of the private sector, which is integral to the country's economic prosperity," he added.

Addressing the gathering, Nestle Pakistan CEO Jason Avancena said, "As we celebrate 35 years of operations in Pakistan, the company is committed to be a force for good throughout its value chain for the future of the country by boosting exports and earning foreign revenues." The CEO said that Nestle made significant strides in expanding beyond ethnic channels to mainstream channels, securing partnerships with mega chains such as Costco in the US, Sobeys in Canada, and Sainsbury's in the UK.

He said that Nestle Pakistan had set ambitious goals for 2030, but added that to further expand the global reach and achieve export targets, streamlined regulatory processes, fair trade agreements, and export incentives were crucial to support growth.

Embassy of Switzerland Charge d'affaires Claudia Thomas said that Nestle Pakistan had gone beyond transactional exports by generating demand for its brands through digital communications and robust trade activations.

The company's high-quality brands enjoy extraordinary on-shelf presence, ensuring their visibility and appeal to consumers in markets like Afghanistan, USA, the UK, the UAE, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Libya, the Maldives, Qatar, Reunion, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Tanzania, Turkey, Japan and Mauritius.

Nestle had committed Rs2 billion in investment in renewable energy and launched multiple solar power plants and biomass boilers at its manufacturing sites in Pakistan.

It has further strengthened its localisation journey, moving to over 90% of raw and packaging requirements locally by sourcing 420 million litres of milk, over 7,500 metric tons of wheat and rice and 50,000 tons of local fruits, enhancing local farmers' livelihoods.

Nestle, with its four manufacturing sites across the country and a wide range of foods and beverages, is helping bring tasty and balanced diets for millions of Pakistanis. The company made 2 billion fortified servings of value-added nutritious products last year across all occasions and life stages.