BÜK, HUNGARY — Nestlé announced on April 14 that it is making its largest investment to date in its pet food factory in Bük, Hungary, turning the facility into the company’s largest and most important pet food production center in Europe.
Nestlé Hungária Kft. is starting a development project of over HUF 20 billion ($72 million) in Bük, which is the largest food processing industry investment in the company's history in Hungary. The development further strengthens the leading role of Nestlé among Hungarian food industry investors.

Since its entry to the Hungarian market, Nestlé has completed investments of nearly HUF 80 billion in total, the majority of which were related to developments in Bük. In 2011 and 2013, the company implemented a capacity increase, modernized the production technology and product portfolio in the Bük pet food factory for a total of HUF 23 billion, an amount now supplemented with the over HUF 20 billion investment.

The extension – necessitated by changing market demands – will include two new production lines with four fillers and an automated multipack packaging unit, which will be fully operational by the end of 2017. In addition to the transformation of the plant that currently produces canned pet food, a 5,000-square-meter new production hall will be erected with an output capacity of 1.6 million products per day. The investment will directly create 70 new jobs, increasing total employment to nearly 1,000, and making the Bük facility the largest and most significant pet food production center of Nestlé in Europe.

Nestlé has pet food factories in nine countries in Europe, with only one other production unit in the Central and Eastern Europe region besides Hungary, in Poland. About 20% of the total 1 million tonnes of pet food manufactured in Europe is produced in Hungary, requiring a dispatch of 50 trucks from the factory daily.

About 90% of the pet food produced in the Bük facilities is provided for export. Once the investment is complete, the U.K. will take over from Germany as the primary export destination of Nestlé, with 35% of the products delivered to the U.K. Germany, Austria and Switzerland will remain highly important markets, collectively receiving 40% of the products from Bük, while 10% of future exports will go to Italy.