Free chocolate leaves bad taste for union
THE Cadbury Factory closure did not stop Dunedinites snagging free chocolate from the brand yesterday, but the E tu union thinks the city’s residents will vote with their wallets long term.
Cadbury staff distributed chocolate at Golden Centre Mall in Dunedin yesterday as part of its nationwide ‘‘Share the Taste’’ tour.
E tu denounced the tour as a ‘‘PR push’’ which would leave a ‘‘bitter taste’’ in Kiwi mouths after its parent company Mondelez pulled out of the Dunedin factory.
This did not stop lines forming at the booth yesterday as the company distributed free blocks.
E tu industry coordinator Phil Knight said he was not surprised people still wanted to eat the confectionery.
‘‘Look, there will always be people who want free chocolate, and good on them. Let the public get some benefit from this.’’
However, from what the union saw, many New Zealanders were voting with their wallets and moving to other brands, he said.
This was a result of a ‘‘big corporation’’ moving operations overseas and deinvesting in New Zealand workers.
‘‘We can only speculate on what will happen to the market share.’’
Mondelez New Zealand head James Kane has said he was ‘‘disappointed’’ by E tu’s response to the campaign.
The union worked constructively with Mondelez last year to support the factory’s workers, he said.
‘‘This marketing campaign is an investment by Mondelez in a number of local New Zealand businesses who will deliver the campaign,’’ Mr Kane said.
Mondelez was still one of New Zealand’s biggest employers in the industry, directly employing about 100 people. Another 100 were employed by thirdparty suppliers, he said.