Chocolate move takes the biscuit

Ionce lived near a McVitie factory and for a few days had what was thought to be the world’s largest Jaffa Cake in the fridge of a house I shared with friends. It had been specially made for a UK court case to determine whether a Jaffa Cake was a biscuit or a cake for tax purposes.

Via the persuasive talents of a journalist housemate, it became ours - before it was eaten of course. For those few days it became a popular local attraction with neighbours as word spread.

Premium brands like that are successful partly because they can engender this sense of loyalty, nostalgia and excitement.

That’s why it was deeply sad to hear that the owners of Dunedin’s 130 year-old Cadbury’s factory were pulling out of town. Industries like that become part of the community, employing generation after generation and taking their place in the area’s history.

Ironically, the original Cadbury’s company was known for its paternalistic attitude to workers, building a ‘‘model’’ village for its employees in Bourneville, Birmingham, dragging them out of slums and improving their living standards, education and health.

Many of those wringing their hands about what has happened with Brexit and the US election result, can find some of the answers to what is powering the frustration with globalisation in this story.

Cadbury’s owners acknowledge the plant was not losing money, but claim it just wasn’t sustainable for the future.

In other words, is is nothing to do with how productive the workforce has been, but where they can increase scale most profitably.

Losing a long-standing factory has a devastating effect on the social fabric of the area. It’s not just depressing that 350 jobs will go. The wider families and suppliers will be affected perhaps for years, perhaps for ever.

If business is committed to engaging with communities, then the idea of sustainability needs to be wider than a race for the cheapest profit, and accountability needs to be to a workforce as well as shareholders.

Let’s hope government can attract a new employer.