The new state-of-the-art facility, which is based in Nairobi, serves the East African market and some countries in the COMESA region such as Zambia and Zimbabwe and will double the production of Vaseline petroleum jelly.
The company adds that the new production line comes with the latest technology available from Unilever globally.
Commitment
“It shows how world class manufacturing processes, assets and skills can be deployed in Kenya as part of a site that is already zero non-hazardous waste to landfill and within Unilever efforts to drive up industry benchmarks,” said Unilever CEO for East Africa Marc Engel during the launch in Nairobi last week.
“More and more people want to buy Unilever Vaseline jelly across the region as a growing population demands quality skin care products. This is a milestone for Unilever as we expand the reach of all our brands in Kenya and across East Africa,” he is quoted by African news agency StarAfrica.
Engel was the launch event along with head of Supply Chain at Unilever Africa, Simon Smith and head of Unilever Africa Bruno Witvoet, who officially opened the facility.
Witvoet says that; “This huge investment shows our commitment to meet growing demand for our products and the confidence we have in Kenya as our regional production hub for East Africa and beyond.”
Kenya market growing
In Kenya, Unilever continued to lead the skin care market in 2014 with a 20% share of the market.
L’Oréal East Africa and Beiersdorf East Africa have also fared well in the region with market shares of 14% and 13% respectively.
All three of the big players have a longstanding presence in the category, thereby gaining consumer loyalty, and during the last year, all of them have invested heavily in marketing campaigns and promotions for their respective skin care brands.