ENTERPRISE, TRADE and Innovation Minister Batt O’Keeffe will today meet representatives of Kraft Foods to discuss the future of Cadbury’s confectionery manufacturing operations in Ireland, which employ 1,130 workers.
Kraft acquired Cadbury last February for £11.6 billion (€13.55 billion), and has since undertaken a review of its operations across Europe, including its plants here. It is understood the Minister will meet a delegation led by Mike Clarke, president of Kraft Foods Europe, which will also include Donal Byrne of Cadbury Ireland.
The Minister is expected to emphasise the Government’s desire to retain Cadbury’s operations in Ireland.
Last June, Cadbury announced a €20 million investment in its Coolock site as part of a major restructuring of its Irish business that involved 200 redundancies. This plan pre-dates Kraft’s ownership, but is expected to proceed. The hope is that its operations here will be largely unaffected by the US company’s latest review.
The chocolate-maker employs 963 workers in Coolock, 113 in Rathmore, Co Kerry, and 54 in Tallaght. Cadbury’s Irish operations export more than €250 million worth of product to over 30 countries each year.
Cadbury came to Ireland in 1932, building a facility at Ossory Road, Dublin.
In 1948, it opened a factory in Rathmore making chocolate crumb, used to make Flake and other products. The Coolock plant, opened in 1964, is now the mainstay of its operation here.
Both the IDA and Enterprise Ireland have supported Cadbury’s operations here.
Kraft has already announced plans to scale back Cadbury operations in Britain.
