Unilever East Africa has today inaugurated its new warehouse worth Sh500 million in Nairobi.
The purpose of this facility is to efficiently handle a wide range of health and beauty products in East Africa.
The Managing Director of Unilever Kenya, Luck Ochieng emphasized that the newly built ultra-modern warehouse signifies the company’s commitment to growth in terms of turnover, capacity, job creation, and community impact.
“The project took a year to be complete. The new warehouse is going to generate 200 more jobs. Also, from the warehouse we can serve Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania,” said Mr Ochieng.
He further stated that this investment demonstrates Unilever’s dedication to making sustainable living a widespread reality.
Partners and supermarkets representatives from Quickmart, Naivas, Quickshelf and Eastmart were present in the launch. Also the team that contributed to the project were awarded for their resilience and dedication.
The warehouse is equipped with the latest advancements in automated storage and retrieval systems, allowing for a larger pallet capacity. This enables the company to store, process, and efficiently ship its products.
The MD noted that the number of pallets in the previous warehouse was about 6,000 but the newly built storage facility will accommodate over 10,000 pallets.
Mr Ochieng added, “Given the recent surge in demand for Unilever’s products and the limited warehousing capacity in the market, this new facility aims to bridge the gap between high demand and supply shortages.”
Also, Unilever can have greater efficiency in terms of operations and manage its carbon footprint.
The MD notes, “With an offsite warehouse facility the firm used to spend a lot of money tracking products from the manufacturing zone before they reached the customer. Also, the disruption, for instance, traffic jams and risk of losses created the need to set up the new warehouse.”
He added that the company is expecting to scoop an annual profit of EUR 1 million.
Unilever’s Head of Supply Chain in Africa, Christian Byron emphasized the importance of sourcing raw and packaging materials locally for Unilever’s production processes.
Currently, 70% of the materials used by Unilever in Africa are manufactured on the continent, which positively impacts the accessibility and affordability of their products.
“We continue to invest in and strengthen our commitment to Kenya by expanding our facilities in the country. We have a strong belief in the potential of this nation and its consumers, and we are fully dedicated to contributing to their respective growth stories,” said Mr Byron.
Mr Byron noted that the company has plans to build more state-of-the-art facilities. He said, “This is just the beginning. We are already thinking of the next warehouse, its cost and how many people we will hire.”
The latest state-of-the-art warehouse covers an area of nearly 23,000 square metres and was constructed with the highest environmental standards in mind.
With a workforce of 148,000 employees across the globe, Unilever boasts over 400 brand names available in more than 190 countries.