SHANGHAI: Chi Forest, one of the fastest-growing beverage companies in the country, has started construction on its seventh wholly-owned production facility, a move aimed at bolstering its supply chain nationwide and boosting delivery to central and western regions of the country.
The plant, based in Xuchang, Henan province, was launched with an agreement signed last Wednesday. Covering 223 mu (14.9 ha), the project represents a total investment of over one billion yuan.
The facility is expected to enhance the company’s logistics response in Henan and neighbouring regions, expand the logistics radius to within 300 km, and reduce the reliance on deliveries from production units in other regions, Chi Forest said.
The expansion comes two months after the company opened in Xianning, Hubei province, a 200 million yuan “one-stop R&D (research and development) innovation test base” – a 20,000 sq m facility dedicated to research, pilot production and product incubation.
The centre integrates laboratories, mini-factories and pilot lines, allowing the company to validate innovations such as liquid nitrogen fresh-lock processing and non-artificial colouring before scaling them across production.
“The new facility allows Chi Forest to consolidate its competitive advantage in high-quality beverage production and rapid regional response,” said Wang Pu, co-founder of Chi Forest. — China Daily/ANN
