Nestle has opened a new ice cream factory in the Chinese city of Guangdong. The plant is part of the company’s plan to increase its market share in China.

The 22,000-sq-m plant will see the Swiss-based food giant treble its annual ice-cream output to 64 million litres. The facility cost 250 million Yuan (US$35.6 million) and will be utilized to push Nestle’s high-end ice-cream products in China to meet the growing demand in the country, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was reported as saying at the opening ceremony. Nestle is the world’s largest food company. Since it entered the Chinese market in the 1980s, it has opened 20 factories, employing some 13,000 workers in 17 regions.