The Swiss Nestlé food company marked the completion of the first phase of constructing a new factory in the Belgrade (Surčin), where it would produce plant-based food.

Photo: Tanjug/Miloš Milivojević

The company invested 67 million Swiss francs in constructing the second Nestle factory in Serbia.  This Plant-Based Meal Solutions factory should start working in October, and it will employ around 300 people.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, who witnessed the ceremony, said that he was pleased that new factories were built in Serbia when there was not much stability in Europe and the world.

Nestle has 350 facilities globally, and the new factory in Serbia will produce food from domestic raw materials - steaks, medallions, breasts and fillets, based on soy, gluten, oil, and rapeseed.

Photo: Tanjug/Miloš Milivojević

Nestlé CEO for the Adriatic Southern Region (Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia) Marjana Davidovic said that all raw materials, primarily soy, would be from Serbia. The finished goods would be exported to the EU.

According to her, the company will educate raw material suppliers, primarily soybeans producers, in a new way of growing, the so-called regenerative agriculture, which better protects the environment and does not use standard pesticides.

"We are building a factory that is environmentally friendly by today's standards," Davidovic said, adding that Nestle was among the first companies in Serbia to be certified to produce without affecting the environment.

She underlined that in the future, the water that came out of the production process would be completely purified before returning to nature, and all waste would be recycled.

H.E. Ambassador of Switzerland to Serbia, Mr. Urs Schmid also attended the ceremony and said that Nestlé's new investment would contribute to the economic development of Serbia. He underlined that the Swiss companies had invested 1.7 billion euros in Serbia and employed 12,000 workers so far.

Nestlé has been present in Serbia for 17 years, and the first factory in Surčin employs more than 500 workers.

Photo: Tanjug/Miloš Milivojević