Ketchup Kraft Heinz’s exclusive manufacturer Investing $ 3 billion updating US manufacture

Of Jessica Dinapoli

New York (Reuters) -Kraft Heinz spends $ 3 billion to update their North -American Factories, their greatest investment in their plants in a decade, even when executives say that the consumer sentiment is in the second lowest point in 70 years and has reduced sales and benefits forecasts.

Updates will help reduce costs by making plants more efficient, which can help compensate President Donald Trump’s rates, which took into account the decision of the company to make the investment, said Pedro Navio, the President of Kraft Heinz, in an interview with Reuters.

He said the investment also allows the packaged food maker and selling new products faster, he said.

Kraft Heinz manufactures its ketchup Heinz, Kraft Macaroni and Philadelphia cheese and cream cheese, among other products, on 30 plants in the United States. Kraft Heinz told Wall Street analysts last month that the rates added their costs and that consumers bought less for economic uncertainty.

But the company is moving forward and making the new investment now to defend its market share, said Navio.

“It goes beyond efficiency or facing current fare challenges,” he said, saying that investment allows Kraft Heinz to produce long -term foods.

The company is currently faced with imports to imports such as coffee, after the United States last month implemented a 10% amount in all imported goods. Its imports from China, which face the highest rates, are negligible, a spokesman said.

Kraft Heinz, who also sells and sells the Cafe de la Casa Maxwell, asked the suppliers a warning of 60 days before making prices.

Navio said that almost everything that sold Kraft Heinz in the United States, said Navio, who added that the company grows its own tomatoes in California and potatoes in Idaho, for example. It exports part of what manufactures in the United States in Canada, said Navio.

The company provides that the investment will create about 3,500 new jobs where the plants are located. Navio said that the company does not foresee the need for additional employees beyond.

Kimberly-Clark and Brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev facial fabric maker have made similar ads in recent weeks.

(Jessica Dinapoli’s report in New York; Aurora Ellis edition)