Pink Snack bars to leave Irish shelves due to drop in popularity

Cadbury-owner Mondelez has decided to wave goodbye to one of our national tea-time gems; the Pink Snack bar.

The announcement comes following news that the company plans to cut more than 200 Irish jobs.

From the end of 2015 the plant will no longer produce wafer brands Time Out and Pink Snack in the State, a statement from the chocolate company said on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Mondalez said the company had decided to discontinue the iconic chocolate wafer snack for Irish consumers due to a steady decline in the bar’s popularity in recent years.

The announcement follows a decision in May 2013 to reduce the number of chocolate fingers in a Pink Snack pack from three to two.

“In May 2013, as a measure to help halt the declining sales, it went from three fingers to two and the price was dropped to 55 cent but those measures haven’t been enough hence the proposals to now stop production,” said the spokeswoman.

The popular chocolate wafer treat was first launched by Cadbury in the UK forty years ago.

The company began producing the chocolate bar on Irish soil in the mid-1980s after it was withdrawn from the UK market.

Due to its popularity on the wider European market, the production of Time Out bars is under review but may continue at a Mondelez wafer factory in Cieszyn, Poland.

“The proposals around Time Out are still being formulated but it is possible that it will continue to be made, relocated to this factory in Poland,” said the spokeswoman. “That option is currently being reviewed.”

Modelez confirmed on Thursday plans to close its gum-base production plant in Tallaght with the loss of 45 permanent roles. The company is also to cut 160 jobs at its other facilities in Coolock, Co Dublin and Rathmore, Co Kerry.

Mondelez, which employs more than 900 people in Ireland, said the Tallaght plant will close in early 2016.

The company said it intends to make a €11.7 million investment in new chocolate making technology at the Coolock facility to concentrate production on core chocolate brands; Cadbury Dairy Milk 8-square, Flake, Twirl and Boost, for consumption in Ireland and the export market.

Mondelez employs more than 900 people across three sites in Ireland and more than €250 million worth of Cadbury chocolate produced here is exported every year.