Cambodia’s first fresh milk dairy in decades could be in operation as early as the end of the year, Nestle Ltd Business Development Manager Dominique Peterhans said Monday.
The Swiss-based giant, which has signed a joint-venture agreement with Apsara Milk, will begin in May to refurbish the Apsara Dairy on Route 5, Peterhans said. The project is expected to take six to nine months to complete, he said.
The factory will produce both sweetened condensed milk and fresh milk for domestic consumption. Apsara currently produces sweetened condensed milk, but virtually all fresh milk in the nation is imported from Thailand.
“No one has touched the dairy side [in Cambodia],” said Peterhans. “There is great potential.”
Nestle will bring in an agronomist to train farmers near Phnom Penh, give them infrastructure necessary for dairy farming, and transport the milk from farms to the factory, he said.
