Nestlé will teach 17,000 young people about the world of work in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
Nestlé will invest in new plants in Chile, Mexico and Cuba at the same time as extending its Alliance for Youth project to Latin America, helping more than 17,000 young people get ready for work.
The company has finalised investment in an infant nutrition factory in Mexico, is preparing to finalise further investment in a new factory in southern Chile, and expects to sign off on a third plant in Cuba by the end of the year.
Nestlé has also reaffirmed its ‘commitment to boosting youth employability’ through an extension to its Alliance for Youth programme.
The expansion will help more than 17,000 young people in Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru to prepare for the world of work over the next two years. It will create more than 2,800 jobs and 2,300 opportunities for apprentices, trainees and fellows and joins 37 other companies from a variety of industries in promoting the scheme.
Nestlé Americas CEO Laurent Freixe said: “With the signing of the agreement on youth employability, we are taking a fundamental step as agents of change for the employability of young people, and for this reason we are joining forces with our colleagues from the private sector, authorities, academic institutions and other influential allies in the region such as the International Youth Organization for Latin America.
“Together we will contribute more significantly to building a promising future for young Latin Americans.”
According to Nestlé’s 2016 annual review, its Latin American and Caribbean business accounted for 31.8% of total sales or $8.66 billion – 3.2% lower than the year before.
In Latin America, strong organic growth was led by price increases following currency depreciation, as real internal growth slowed. In Brazil, it had high single-digit organic growth, while significant price increases at the end of the first half of the year impacted volumes in the short term. Nescafé Dolce Gusto and KitKat continued to grow in double digits and in Mexico there was another year of good growth, which was broad-based across dairy, coffee creamers, soluble coffee, Nescafé Dolce Gusto and chocolate.
Nestlé’s Americas zone, which also includes North America, turned over $27.29 billion – 4.2% higher than the year before.
Across the four countries that will benefit from the extension to its Alliance for Youth scheme – Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru – Nestlé operates 23 factories, including local production sites for powdered and liquid beverages, bottled water, and milk products and ice cream. Almost half of the factories are in Mexico.
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