Kraft Heinz Egypt announced the opening of its newly expanded production facility in Cairo on 28 September, 2024.
The expansion project, which has seen 2 billion Egyptian pounds (approx. $50 million) invested into the factory over the last two years, has resulted in seven new state-of-the-art production lines, a new waste water treatment unit, and a new office block to facilitate increased demand from both local and export markets.
The newly upgraded factory, now spanning nearly 30,000 square metres, aims to double its annual production capacity to 53,000 tonnes and increase the export rate from 12% to 20%. The new production lines include one each for bottle filling, jar filling, ketchup production, mayonnaise production, doypack filling, and two for sachet filling. In addition, Kraft Heinz has significantly increased the local sourcing of its products, with 90% of ingredients used in its Cairo facility now sourced locally.
The official inauguration ceremony was attended by Herro Mustafa Garg, US Ambassador to Egypt, Kamel El Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Industry, Hassan El Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Sherif Farouk, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, as well as a high-level team from Kraft Heinz led by Bruno Keller, Zone President – West and East Emerging Markets.
In his speech, Minister El Wazir emphasized the significance of expansion in Egypt’s food production landscape, stating that it will strengthen Egypt’s position as a regional manufacturing and export hub. He also highlighted that the factory employs 600 workers and the expansion aligns with the Ministry of Industry’s broader goals of increasing production capacities in key sectors, including the food industry. Minister El Khatib added that the new expansions reflect the American F&B company’s strong confidence in Egypt’s investment climate.
“With this investment, we hope to double our production capacity and set Kraft Heinz up as a world class export hub for Egypt and the rest of the Middle East and Africa – all part of our ambition to lead the future of food,” says Keller.
“This new investment underscores our commitment to innovation and growth as well as our understanding of Egypt’s potential to become a hub not only for manufacturing but also for talents,” adds Engy Basiouny, Head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Middle East and Africa, The Kraft Heinz Company.
