Kraft Foods is building a chocolate and powdered beverage manufacturing plant in Brazil which is the company's largest developing market. Kraft will be spanding US$50m on the site in the state of Pernambuco, in north-eastern Brazil.

The factory, which will produce lines including Lacta chcoolate tablets and Tang powdered beverages, will be Kraft's sixth plant in Brazil. The site will be 30,000 square metres in size, will employ 600 workers and be up and running in the first quarter of 2011. Kraft declined to reveal the plant's capacity.

"Brazil is a key growth engine for Kraft Foods, and is one of our top ten focus markets for our developing markets business," a Kraft spokesperson said. "In fact, it's the largest developing market business for Kraft Foods. Combined with Cadbury, it has about US$1.6bn in annual net revenues."