Kraft maintains it offers best prospects for Cadbury workers

Dec 16 2009 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

KRAFT today hit back at critics pouring scorn on its bid – and said: “We are by far the best partner for Cadbury.”

A statement from the US food giant said: “We are surprised at Unite. We have said all along that we will invest in British manufacturing jobs and we want to keep talking. We are by far the best partner for Cadbury. Combining these companies will help both grow.

“Our chocolate business is already Europe’s second biggest and our biggest chocolate brand, Milka, has grown at 8 per cent per year since 2000.

“We offer the best prospects for British manufacturing jobs. A combined company would be better for factory workers than Cadbury standing alone or being broken up by others. As well as investing in Bournville, we want to keep the Somerdale plant open, which Cadbury plan to close. Across Europe, our major chocolate brands are made in their home markets, because it makes sense to do so. Britain is important to us. We’ve been here for more than 85 years. We have great brands like Kenco, Philadelphia and Toblerone and employ 1,500 people. We are proud of our record as a great place to work, our sustainability initiatives and our community programmes.”