Mondelez International to set up chocolate manufacturing facility in India

US food and beverage firm Mondelez International is set to establish a chocolate manufacturing facility in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, with an investment of $190m.

The investment is part of the company’s ongoing supply chain reinvention plan that helps it to address the growth in demand in emerging markets and to drive productivity and margin gains.

Located in Sri City, the 134-acre multi-category food site will be the largest chocolate manufacturing plant in India and Mondelez International’s largest manufacturing plant in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mondelez has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state to build the plant in four phases, with the first slated for completion by 2015.

By 2020, the facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 250,000t and employ about 1,600 people.

Mondelez integrated supply chain executive vice president Daniel Myers said, "We’re implementing a number of initiatives around the world to capitalise on the growing demand in emerging markets while also aggressively reducing costs and improving productivity."

Mondelez International India and South Asia president and Cadbury India managing director Manu Anand said, "We’re delighted to partner with the government of Andhra Pradesh on this new investment, which will help us build on our success in India and drive long-term business sustainability."

"We expect this model plant to set examples in production efficiency, energy savings, emission reductions and community involvement," Anand added.

The company noted that over the last three years it has invested about $200m to expand its existing operational facilities in the country.