Nestle opens China R&D centre, affirms safety focus
BEIJING, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Nestle SA (NESN.VX), the world's biggest food group, opened a 70 million yuan ($10.2 million) research and development centre in Beijing on Friday, while affirming its focus on food safety amid China's milk scandal.
The Swiss-based maker of Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolate bars said the new centre would conduct both basic research and product development in one of its fastest growing markets in the world.
"The safety of consumers is our top priority and the research centre will play a key role in that," Nestle Chief Executive Paul Bulcke told reporters.
Nestle's products made in China were pulled from the shelves in Asia after traces of melamine were found, following a powder milk scandal in China that killed four infants and put tens of thousands in the hospital.
Nestle has said its products were safe for consumption but that it agreed to the recall to ease public concerns.
"Nestle never had a product that was unsafe for consumption," Bulcke said.
Nestle's sales in developing markets, including China, grew 16.8 percent in the January-September period, almost double its average global growth, accounting for about a third of total sales.
"We project that in the next 10 years that one third will grow to 40-45 percent," said Bulcke.
Analysts say the company's strong performance is underpinned by its wide geographic and product spread, while it is also helped by falling prices for commodities like milk and coffee.
($=6.84 yuan) (Reporting by Kirby Chien; Editing by Nick Macfie)
