The production of Pineapple Lumps and other Kiwi treats will shift to Australia early next year, Cadbury has confirmed.
Jaffas and Pineapple Lumps are manufactured in Cadbury's Dunedin factory which is set to close. Photo: Cadbury / Pascall
The chocolate treats were made in Dunedin at the Cadbury factory, which is due to close next year.
A last-ditch bid was launched to keep the manufacture of the quintessential Kiwi treats in Dunedin. The factory was an icon in the city for more than 130 years, and has been producing chocolate for Cadbury for more than 80 years.
Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Cadbury confirmed its iconic Kiwi confectionery products, such as Pineapple Lumps and Jaffas, will be made in Australia.
No local manufacturer was found to take on production of the products when the factory, owned by Mondelēz International, closes in March. The food giant said it would make an exception for Jaffas and Pineapple Lumps if a manufacturer could be found in New Zealand.
Mondelēz New Zealand head James Kane said the technology and production processes were too hard to match. He said the sweets would be made to the same taste and quality standards as now.
Dunedin South MP Claire Curran said she does not believe an American-based multi-national firm ever really wanted to save all the jobs at the city's Cadbury factory.
The union E tū was also sceptical about Mondelez's commitment to find an alternative local manufacturer.
"We do question whether there was a genuine effort to keep that work here.
"What was that exercise really about? Was it about trying to keep 10 percent of that production in New Zealand - or was it really about brand-protection and easing public anger over this closure?" E tū's Director of Industries, Neville Donaldson said.
"We had hoped for better, but it's no surprise things have turned out as they have."
New Zealand consumers might now want to consider where they spend their money when it comes to a sweet treat, Mr Donaldson said.
Other sweets to go include the Buzz Bar, Pinky bar and chocolate fish.
Dunedin has lost more than 800 manufacturing jobs in recent years with the closure of the Hillside Railway workshops, Fisher and Paykel Appliances, Sealord and Cadbury.
Production of the products will shift to Australia early next year.