Kerry, the world’s taste and nutrition company, has announced that it will increase its footprint in South East Asia (SEA) by building a second manufacturing facility in Karawang, Indonesia. The new state-of-the-art facility, which represents Kerry’s largest ever capital investment in SEA, will significantly expand Kerry’s Taste offering in the region and further support customers in the fast-growing markets of SEA. It will be Kerry second manufacturing site and third facility in Indonesia.

This world class facility will be Kerry’s first greenfield investment in SEA and will encompass a flavor manufacturing site along with a sampling hub and a research and development pilot plant. A wide range of flavour technologies will be manufactured in Karawang, allowing this new site to support Kerry’s fast-growing taste business and its food and beverages systems across all food categories, including beverage and snacks which is among the fastest growing end use markets for Kerry.

“As part of its goal to create a world of sustainable nutrition, Kerry is committed to meeting the growing demand from customers within Indonesia and South East Asia. Our focus is on delivering world class products to our customers and consumers. This new investment is made with current and future customer needs in mind and the important role that taste can play in enabling the transition to healthier and more sustainable diets,” said Antoine Nourrain, general manager, Taste APMEA.

The design of the new facilities includes an on-site wastewater treatment plant and meets the criteria of Kerry’s Beyond the Horizon sustainability strategy achieving new standards in the consumption of energy and water with significantly lower CO₂ emissions and no waste to landfill. Construction has started and the plant will be operational late 2022.

Commenting on the announcement, John Savage, CEO global taste said: “The construction of this world-class manufacturing site demonstrates our commitment to our customers in Indonesia and the South East Asia region. This new facility will strengthen our competitiveness as we work with customers to deliver our Taste portfolio of solutions and bring excellent and authentic tasting products to market. The South East Asian taste market is valued at circa €900m and growing in strong single digits with a huge opportunity for further development and innovation.