Nestle vows to hold prices despite dollar slide
Published:Friday | July 6, 2018 | 12:00 AMCarlene Davis
Nestle, one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, is promising Jamaicans that the recent slippage in the value of the local currency against the US Dollar, will not affect the quality or cost of its products.
Nestle Jamaica's country manager Daniel Caron, says that operations at his company are usually stable, despite the direction the dollar is taking.
"We take a long-term approach, so just because the dollar in recent weeks has gone up, when you look at the dollar over the last eight months, it has been relatively stable, so our decisions are really calculated decisions and we look at the long-term," Caron told The Sunday Gleaner.
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The Nestle position was underscored by Patricio Torres, head of market for its Anglo-Dutch Caribbean, who told our news team that Jamaican customers have no need to worry about price hikes or changes in their products, as they have ensured that he products come in different sizes, so one can always afford a product that matches their budget.
"We have been working to build a new format for our products. Take Milo for example, we have different prices and different sizes, and we are really trying to help consumers to get the right product in the right format. It's customised to the consumers needs and with all our brands, we try to have the same approach," said Torres.
Nestle's executive vice-president and CEO for Zone Americas, Laurent Freixes said that his company's focus has always been to try and deliver the best possible quality to consumers.
"We are always conscious and mindful of our consumer so when it comes to taking prices up, we are always very mindful.
"Quality is the core principle to us, we never compromise on quality. Quality is central to our success, central to our company, and we will never touch the quality of our products. If anything, we want to improve the quality of our product all the time, so that is a constant focus. Trying to deliver the best possible quality to our consumers," said Freixes.
Torres and Freixes, were in Jamaica last week to officially open the company's new US$12.5 million corporate office and distribution centre at Ferry Pen, St Andrew.