Sweet news ...Dairy Milk will only be made in UK
BREXIT Britain was given another boost yesterday as Cadbury revealed its Dairy Milk chocolate will be manufactured exclusively in the UK.
Parent company Mondelez International (formerly Kraft) plans to move all its production of the bar to its famous Bournville site.
It means 12,000 tons – 125 million bars – currently made in Germany and other European sites will be made at the Birmingham plant from next year.
Cadbury says that an £80million investment in its Bournville factory since 2014 has increased “production efficiency” by 30 per cent.
Moving the work there would secure full-time jobs for 40 seasonal workers.
Tory MP Peter Bone said: “This is a recognition of the fact that the UK is an even better place to base businesses now we are out of the EU and don’t have to abide by their rules and regulations.
“It is a great centre to be based, whether you want to sell goods to the EU or to the rest of the world. I think Cadbury have put a big tick in the box for the UK.”
The Quaker Cadbury family moved chocolate production to the site on the south-west side of Birmingham in 1879.
It is now home to the Cadbury World visitor attraction and where there is a model village which housed the workers.
Last year the factory made 35,000 tons of Dairy Milk. Mondelez said that not all bars can be produced at Bournville due to the “many formats and sizes tablets come in, each format requires different equipment to make them”.
Joe Clarke, national officer for food, drink and agriculture at Unite union, said: “The announcement by Cadbury of a new line at the Bournville site to handle 12,000 tons per annum of additional chocolate, which equates to 125 million Cadbury Dairy Milk bars, is a vote of confidence in the UK workforce. “To complete consultations and negotiations to deliver this fantastic investment, even in the midst of the Covid restrictions, is a credit to the trade union representatives, the members and the business.”
Louise Stigant, UK managing director of Mondelez International, said: “At a time when manufacturing in the UK is facing significant challenges, it has never been more vital to secure the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of our business.
“We now have an opportunity at Bournville to further invest in its future as the home and heart of Cadbury. This investment will continue the modernising of our production processes at Bournville.”