12 December 2006

Multinational Cadbury Confectionery announced a $20 million expansion of Cadbury Confectionery’s chocolate factory in New Zealand’s South Island city of Dunedin.

The investment includes a $2 million grant through Investment New Zealand’s Strategic Investment Fund, which will be used to help Cadbury to establish a global chocolate crumb research and product development centre in Dunedin.

Cadbury is to spend another $17.5 million on new buildings, plant and environmental work, plus another $500,000 on the R&D centre.

Investment New Zealand’s Ross Campbell said the “state of the art” Dunedin chocolate crumb factory will future-proof the factory’s viability and significantly strengthen its ability to bid for further expansion projects.

“It sends a clear signal to international investors that New Zealand is a desirable location for globally competitive firms,” said Mr Campbell.

Chocolate crumb is a base ingredient for the manufacture of chocolate. Cadbury in Dunedin, whose efficiency is acknowledged by Cadbury Schweppes’ head office, produces more than 5000 tonnes of crumb.

Globally the demand for chocolate crumb is outstripping supply. The expansion will increase Dunedin’s chocolate crumb processing capacity by 300% and is expected to be worth more than $30 million per annum. Cadbury’s investment in Dunedin is part of a strategy to ensure its processing plants in the region will be able to meet forecast growth in demand for chocolate from China and the Asia Pacific region.

For more information, please contact:

hayley.tangaroa@investmentnz.govt.nz

+64 9 915 4277