Final UK-made Cadbury Crunchie bars from September
The last bars will be made at the Keynsham-based factory from September, according to a company briefing document written on June 15 and distributed to factory staff.
The last Turkish Delights will roll off production lines in August/September, while the final Fudge and Chomp bars will be produced by the factory in November/December.
Curly Wurlys face their last UK hurrah from September, albeit with potential overrun in serving notice until October. Mini Egg production has already ceased, with staff handed notice at the start of February.
Jonathan Horrell, director of corporate affairs, Kraft Foods told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “We make every effort to keep employees informed. It's a complex project so projected timings may of course change.”
Polish transfer
Cadbury's new Polish facility in Skarbimierz made headlines in February after Kraft reneged on a pledge to keep the Keynsham facility open because Cadbury's plans to transfer production abroad were "unrealistic to reverse” given their advanced stage.
The move enraged trade union bosses, who accused Kraft of betraying the 400 staff at Keynsham, who were assured that their jobs were safe when the bid was launched.
Unusually, claimed Kraft executive vice-president for corporate and legal affairs Marc Firestone, Cadbury had engaged in a costly ‘parallel running’ process, installing expensive equipment in Poland while still manufacturing in Keynsham.
By the time Kraft realised what was going on, he claimed, Cadbury had already invested more than £100m in the site at Skarbimierz, with the majority of the money spent on bespoke kit for products such as Curly Wurly.
