Dunedin’s Cadbury factory has ended its production in New Zealand.
The factory had been operational for 150 years and the closure leaves at least 350 of its workers without jobs.
James Kane, spokesperson for Mondelez International, the owner of Cadbury, is hoping to increase the number of full time jobs at Cadbury World.
Mondelez is set to invest $7m into the popular tourist attraction, which will be relocated to the Castle Street Old Dairy.
“We thought long and hard about what would be appropriate in 2018 following the closure of the Dunedin factory, and sought feedback from the local team and community stakeholders,” he told RNZ.
“We believe a calendar of events associated with Cadbury World is the best way to continue to engage the local community, attract visitors from outside Dunedin, and raise funds for our community partners.”
The final product made at the factory was a batch of Pineapple Lumps, with 30 people involved in the production.
Mondelez did seek out a potential new manufacturer for the factory.
“Unfortunately, we only received one formal response to the RFP documents from a local supplier that was interested in manufacturing the full portfolio of Kiwi products in New Zealand,” Kane said.
“We’ve worked very closely with that supplier over the last six months to try and find a way for them to take on the work, however the unique requirements of these products – particularly the marshmallow-based products – meant it simply wasn’t possible.”
