MANILA - Nestle Philippines on Tuesday said it will invest P2 billion for a new plant in Lipa City, Batangas to produce malt requirements for Milo products.

Protomalt, a Nestle proprietary malt extract, is a key ingredient in all Milo products.

Nestle Philippines chairman and chief executive Jacques Reber said at present, protomalt is sourced from Singapore.

Once the Lipa malt plant is complete, it can produce as much as 35,000 tons of malt, which is enough for the Philippine market's Milo consumption.

The Philippines is the second biggest Milo market in the world next to Malaysia.

Reber said the new investment will open opportunities for Philippine farmers, as Nestle Philippines plans to source cassava, a major raw material for malt extract, locally.

He said they have started to qualify cassava farmers in Mindanao.

Nestle Philippines projects it will need 18,000 metric tons of cassava per year.

Nestle has three existing malt plants located in Singapore, Nigeria, and Australia. The 5,400-square-meter malt plant in Lipa is the company's fourth facility.

It is expected to open jobs for only 23 employees because the company uses state of the art technology. Production will start in November 2017.