The event was attended by the El Jadida Province Governor Mohammed El Guerrouj, Kingdom’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Ryad Mezzour, Swiss Ambassador to Morocco Guillaume Scheurer, and Imane Zaoui, General Business Manager at Nestlé Maroc.
Ryad Mezzour said, “Today, we celebrate three decades of commitment and efforts made by Nestlé Morocco in terms of investment, innovation and job creation that have enabled the group to position itself as a major player in the dairy sector and the production of soluble coffee in Morocco.”
“We are proud of this presence anchored in the Kingdom which attests to the attractiveness and competitiveness of Morocco, the great potential of the agri-food industry and the quality of our human resources,” added Mezzour.
Mezzour said, “Through its production of quality food products that meet the needs of the local market and export, Nestlé Morocco is in line with the priorities of the sector in terms of promoting local manufacturing and strengthening the integration along the value chain. This contributes more to the food security and industrial sovereignty of our country, in accordance with the High Royal Guidelines.”
Imane Zaoui, General Business Manager, Nestlé Maroc said, “We are very proud to be locally producing international brands Nido and Nescafé from fresh milk and green coffee beans at our factory in El Jadida, which caters to our Moroccan consumers and exports 80% of its coffee production to Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt, among other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.”
Nestlé has invested over MAD 630 million in Morocco over the past ten years, and currently employs more than 420 people in the Kingdom, including 187 at the El Jadida factory. It also offers indirect employment to around 7,500 people in the country.
Opened in 1992, El Jadida factory products include different Nescafé offerings as well as Nido fortified full cream milk powder and growing up milk, manufactured under the highest safety and quality standards as recognised with leading international certifications.
The factory is also certified for environmental management and has achieved zero waste to landfill. In 2021, it became home to the first solar plant in the port city of El Jadida, generating 1.7 GWh of electricity per year from a 7,000 m2 plot housing nearly 2,600 photovoltaic (PV) panels.