Kraft announces multi million pound investment in UK manufacturing

Kraft Foods has announced proposals for further investment in the UK, one of its key global markets and a major manufacturing base for the company. The £50 million investment programme will expand Kraft‟s UK manufacturing capacity and drive productivity towards world-class levels. The proposals are designed to keep Bournville, home of iconic Cadbury chocolate, at the heart of the British chocolate industry. They will also bring biscuit-making, including the famous Oreo cookie, to Kraft in the UK for the first time as part of a series of major UK investments already initiated by Kraft Foods. The £44 million investment in chocolate manufacturing, of which £3.4 million was announced in early 2011, will benefit Bournville in Birmingham and plants at Chirk, North Wales, and Marlbrook in Herefordshire. Amongst other changes, the wide-ranging programme will combine state-of-the-art technology and new ways of working to increase overall output, improve energy efficiency and bring some production in-house. Kraft Foods expects approximately 200 roles in chocolate manufacturing to be affected by changes resulting from the investment programme. In 2012 and 2013, the company will work closely with employees and their representatives to minimise the impact through redeployment and a managed voluntary redundancy scheme.