Nestle, one of the largest food companies in the world, has extended its Product Technology Centre situated in Konolfingen, Switzerland in order to increase its research and development. The extension is likely to help Nestle enhance the company's innovative equipment for the purpose of new goods development and employ these for the international operations of the company.

The Product Technology Centre in Konolfingen mainly deals with the development of dairy products, baby food and healthcare. The most recent venture of the company seems to be related to its responsibility to increase its potential for research and development.

Planned Progress

Earlier in the year, the company opened a Clinical Development Unit and is all set to follow it up by starting the Nestle Institute of Health Sciences, both of which are going to be situated in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Nestle had earlier reported that more than half of its overall global investment for research and development is used up in Switzerland. The Chief Technology Officer at the company, Werner Bauer, stated that they are bent on research and development in Switzerland. He added that Nestle has been in control of a research and development facility at Konolfingen for more than 40 years since the company first took over the milk sterilizing spot for the development of dairy products and practices.

The company initiated the concept of PTCs or Product Technology Centres in the year 1998. The decision changed the face of the entire industry by assembling the development of products to just a handful of spots around the entire world. PTC Konolfingen soon turned out to be a flagship for the new research and development structure of the company. Nestle is pleased at the moment with the large scale increase in their resources on the site.

Scope of Development

The brand new extension is prepared to include a new spray drying tower, mechanisms to process the wet mix and special production lines to package the powdered goods from Nestle. The site is also probably going to be outfitted with a system to control the process so that the products comply with the different food and safety levels.

A CHF investment from 2011 worth 200 million will be followed by the new extension to begin a production unit at the Konolfingen site. The company has invested a total of almost CHF 465 million in the site as yearly as from the year 2006. The new extension has a target of building on the history established by PTC Konolfingen based on innovation and the expertise of research.

The Product Technology Centre came up with the idea of hypoallergenic baby food as early as in the 1980s to keep up with the rising consumer demand for a baby food product which would result in fewer allergies than normal formulas. The company has also introduced a probiotic meant for all infant formulas like HA and manufactured and patented a spray drying method.

The company's R&D includes major research work conducted at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland with a couple of units spread across ST. Louis in the US, Tokyo in Japan and Beijing in China. The results are shared with the international R&D network of Nestle including the Product Development Centres of the company. Nestle currently holds 32 R&D centres around the world along with 12 PTCs.

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