'Good' outlook for Cadbury in Dunedin

The $70 million investment Cadbury made in its Dunedin plant before it was swallowed up by food giant Kraft seems to have gone down well with the new owner.

Vice-president and area director for Kraft Australia and New Zealand Rebecca Dee-Bradbury toured the Dunedin plant yesterday for the first time and, although non-committal on detail, was positive in general about the plant's future.

"At the end of the day, the best confidence you can signal in terms of our commitment to Dunedin and to New Zealand business is the fact that we've invested $70 million in kit and we are talking around a growth agenda for New Zealand."

Ms Dee-Bradbury, who has been with Kraft since January, is a specialist in "transformation", which in this case means integrating the operations of Kraft and Cadbury.

"The integration is all about growth. So, in that light, the capacity of Dunedin is a key element of delivering against that growth. So, I think the outlook is good."

Mrs Dee-Bradbury said Kraft had one of the biggest research and development teams in Australia and New Zealand.

Her focus was on making sure Kraft realised a return on its investment in New Zealand and Australia and she was confident the Dunedin plant could be "an ongoing viable option".

"We've certainly stepped forward in terms of our investment in the local facility, but it's going to come down to the workforce stepping forward, suppliers stepping forward and the consumers continuing their love of Cadbury."

Ms Dee-Bradbury also visited Kraft's Auckland office and announced its new "executive leadership team" for New Zealand, which is headed by former Cadbury New Zealand managing-director Matthew Oldham.

Ms Dee-Bradbury held a meeting with Dunedin staff to give them "first-hand visibility of the vision" for integration and the part they would play.

She considered there was room for growth in the New Zealand market for all Kraft's chocolate and snack products, making use of the Cadbury infrastructure.

Asked about continued funding of community events, Ms Dee-Bradbury said connecting with the community "we see as an absolute priority".

Ms Dee-Bradbury, based in Melbourne, has previously worked in Auckland for Lion Nathan.

mark.price@odt.co.nz