By Madelaine B. Miraflor TANAUAN, Batangas – Food and beverage giant Nestlé Philippines is expecting to spend an average capital expenditure (capex) of P3 billion every year to continuously expand its production capacity as well as improve its existing facilities.   This, as the company inaugurated on Thursday a P2.8-billion ready-to-drink (RTD) plant within Nestlé’s manufacturing complex in Tanauan, Batangas. This, according to Nestlé Philippines Chairman Nestle Philippines Chairman Kais Marzouki , is the single largest business investment Nestlé made across some countries last year. Speaking to reporters here, Marzouki said that following the new plant’s opening, the company may have a “similar rate of investment in the years to come.” Nestlé’s capital expenditure over the last five years have already totaled to P14 billion, averaging P2.7 billion per year. The bulk of these investments were spent to upgrade the company’s manufacturing plant in Cabuyao, Cagayan de Oro, Lipa, and Tanauan. “At Nestlé Philippines, we prioritize local manufacturing over importation. When we manufacture in the country, we bring in technology, generate employment, pay taxes, contribute further development in the manufacturing sector,” Marzouki said. During the inauguration, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said he hopes this is not the last major investment Nestlé will undertake in the Philippines. “Hopefully they build another plant somewhere in a different location here in the country,” Lopez said in a separate interview. “We want them to expand.” He said that as of now, there are still a lot of companies that rely on importation to support their business. “DTI is focusing on local production and manufacturing. There are huge investments that go into it and it creates livelihood opportunities,” Lopez said. Last year, a Nestle official said the company was considering to pull out its local coffee manufacturing operations amid the high cost of raw material and production, but the firm immediately clarified that they are not making such any major move. Right now, Nestle locally manufactures 94 percent of the products they sell here in the Philippines The newly inaugurated RTD plant, with an area of 14,688 square meters, will manufacture Nestle Chuckie, a leading RTD chocolate brand in the country. The plant is currently manufacturing Chuckie 250 ml and will produce the 110 ml variant in the future. It is capable to produce as much as 330 million packs of Chuckie every year. By the middle of this year, the plant should also be able to start producing Nestle All Purpose Cream.