Cadbury Confectionery says it is not contemplating a restructuring of its Dunedin plant, rejecting recent speculation about the company's future in the city.
There has been widespread public speculation that Cadbury, one of the city's largest employers, offering up to 800 jobs depending on seasonal requirements, was considering restructuring following confirmation of the loss of more than 600 jobs from plant closures at Fisher and Paykel Appliances, Tamahine Knitwear and Silver Fern Farms' (formerly PPCS) venison plant at Burnside in recent months.
Cadbury corporate communications manager Daniel Ellis, contacted in Melbourne yesterday, said there were no restructuring proposals for any of Cadbury's plants, noting Australia and New Zealand operations were separate from a demerger completed in early May by its London-based parent company.
"There's nothing to comment on. It's only speculation," he said, stating he was aware of the recent redundancies around the city.
In early-May the demerger of Cadbury's Americas Beverages division to the Dr Pepper Snapple Group was completed.
Potential for change was first signalled in March 2007 when a second worldwide restructuring plan for Cadbury Schweppes, the world's largest confectionery group, was announced, with the intention to cut 15% of its 50,000-strong global workforce over four years, but no changes for Dunedin were aired.
In November 2006, Cadbury announced a $20 million investment in its Dunedin plant, to deliver a 200% increase in production of its chocolate crumb ingredient.
It forecast an increase from 5000 tonnes per year to potentially 15,000 tonnes, most of which was to be be exported.
Cadbury's last restructuring, in late 2003, cost about 5000 jobs worldwide, with the number of factories worldwide being cut from 133 to 60.
