Food company uses Mindanao businesses to get clean energy
2 min read
The Cagayan de Oro City factory of Nestle Philippines. (Photo courtesy of Nestle)
MindanaoHerald | Food company uses Mindanao businesses to get clean energy | CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A large food and drink company with a factory in this city is working with power companies in Mindanao to use more renewable energy in its activities.
Noel Lonzanida, the manager of the Nestle Philippines-Cagayan de Oro factory, said that Mindanao Electric Systems (Minergy) and the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (Cepalco) have the facilities to make renewable power as they plan to grow in the future.
In an interview on Thursday, Lonzanida said, “For our Cagayan de Oro factory, we are in the feasibility stage of expanding our biomass to cover our production operations.”
Lonzanida said that electricity costs make up about 12% of their total running costs every year.
He said that even though some of the factory’s power comes from its own wood, other parts still need electricity from Cepalco.
He said that Nestle signed a deal with Minergy and Cepalco earlier this week to cut the company’s carbon impact even more.
Kais Marzouki, the chairman and CEO of Nestle Philippines, said that the project shows the company’s “net zero commitment” to change the way factories work.
“Because of this, one of our top priorities has been to change all of our electricity to come from renewable sources,” he said.
Nestle Philippines’ website says that its plant in Brgy. Tablon is the only one outside of Luzon. It is built on a 25.6-hectare plot of land.
Since it opened in 1984, the plant has become the centre of coffee production in the country and the main place where filled milk powder is sent abroad.
Marzouki said that the company’s plan to switch all of its facilities on Luzon to renewable energy starting in 2016 was once thought to be too ambitious.
“However, it was finished two years early thanks to the hard work and persistence of our Nestle team and the help of the Department of Energy, the Cagayan de Oro City government, and the private sector,” he said in a statement.(via PNA)
