Heinz to step up investment in infant products

Updated: 2014-12-04 09:24

By QIU QUANLIN(China Daily)

  Comments() Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按钮 0

Global food company H J Heinz Co will step up investment and add more products to boost its presence in China's fast-growing market for infant food, a top company official said.

"Heinz will expand its presence by boosting investment in China and introducing more products in the years ahead as the Chinese market for high-quality and safe baby food continues to grow," said Bernardo Hees, chief executive officer of Heinz.

Hees' remarks came after the US-based company opened a large manufacturing facility for baby cereals, which have already become Heinz's best sellers in terms of market share in China, in Sanshui district of Foshan, Guangdong province, on Tuesday.

The 80,000-square-meter facility is Heinz's largest infant cereal manufacturing base in the world, and will increase the company' daily output in China by almost 40 percent, according to the company.

Heinz currently operates seven factories in China and the number will increase in the near future as the market expands rapidly, Hees said.

"Chinese parents are more willing to spend on baby food. It has laid a solid foundation for us to expand production capacity in China," said Hees, adding the company will also add more products to the Chinese market.

According to Hees, Heinz has clocked double-digit growth across all its businesses since it first entered China by setting up a baby food and nutrition supplement manufacturing factory in 1984 in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province.

"With the new facilities, we are able to sustain a leadership in the food industry by deepening our commitment to the Chinese market, where a growing number of parents have developed higher demand for safe and quality baby food," Hees said.

The Chinese market contributes about 5 percent to the global business of Heinz, which relies mainly on sauces and condiments and cereal products for growth in China, according to Hees.

He said the new base in Foshan will ensure quality and safety of Heinz cereals in the Chinese market, where consumers are highly sensitive to safety of infant products after a 2008 scandal involving melamine-contaminated baby milk powder. At least six babies died and thousands more fell ill due to the tainted milk powder, according to official sources.

As one of the leading global baby food producers, Heinz recalled four batches of infant food in eastern China in August after it had been found to contain lead in excess of the allowable limit, according to the company.

Food safety regulators in Zhejiang province said they had found "excessive amounts of lead" in the company's AD Calcium Hi-Protein Cereal.

In response, the company issued a regional recall of baby cereal after a comprehensive internal investigation revealed that an isolated batch of defatted soy bean powder from a supplier in China demonstrated variable lead content.

Along with the launch of the new facility, Heinz has also set up a quality and testing laboratory in Foshan, the company said.

With China relaxing its one-child policy earlier and allowing couples to have a second offspring if either parent was an only child, the baby food market is expected to see rapid growth in the years ahead, said Chen Shanyou, director of the Guangdong Dairy Industry Association.

"Domestic and overseas baby food producers should increase safety standards to ensure the supply of high quality food for babies," Chen said.