SWITZERLAND – Food group Nestle said this week that its venture capital fund, outlined last autumn, is ready for business.

The company has called the fund ‘Life ventures by Nestle’. It will have a capital of 150 million euro and be headed up by Gunnar Weikert.

Nestle says that it will use the fund to gain better access to new science and technology through acquisitions, licensing and joint ventures. The fund will look at functional foods, food processing and packaging.

The fund means that Nestle can conduct research and development projects that would not normally fit its strategies through start-up companies.

Also this week, Nestle announced that it is to close the milk division at its plant at Hjorring, Denmark.

The plant produces milk powder and diet products. Less than 10% of the plant’s produce is sold in Denmark, with most of it exported to Asia and the Middle East.

Nestle said that the closure is due to its loss of market share in the Middle East and Asia.