Mondelēz International, which owns confectionary brand Cadbury is investing £15 million into its historic Bournville site in Birmingham, UK.
The historic Bournville village was built by the Cadbury brothers back in the 1870’s. The investment aims to bring some production in continental Europe back to the UK.
£11 million will be allocated to create a new production line for Cadbury Dairy Milk tablets.
Last year, Bournville produced 35,000 tonnes of Cadbury Dairy Milk tablets (approx. 234 million bars). With this investment, it will allow them to produce an additional 12,000 tonnes of chocolate as the company consolidates the majority of its tablet production at the site.
In addition to the new line, the remainder £4 million will be spent increasing its chocolate-making capacity to meet current demand and to anticipate future needs.
The company said from 2022, the new line will enable 125 million more Dairy Milk bars to be manufactured, with more capacity for future growth.
Louise Stigant, UK Managing Director, Mondelēz International, said:
At a time when manufacturing in the UK is facing significant challenges, it has never been more vital to secure the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of our business.
We now have an opportunity at Bournville to further invest in its future as the home and heart of Cadbury by bringing more Cadbury Dairy Milk production to Bournville.
This investment will continue the modernising of our production processes at Bournville and ensure we are meeting the need for a highly efficient and robust supply infrastructure for our iconic Cadbury Dairy Milk tablets.
The latest investment follows from its £80 million of investment since 2014 to upgrade and modernise facilities and to drive efficiencies at the Bournville site which drove 30% more production efficiency since.
Roberto Gambaccini, Bournville Manufacturing Director, Mondelēz International said:
Today, thanks to our investments over the last seven years and our colleagues’ commitment to improving productivity, Bournville is now much more competitive across our manufacturing network, particularly when it comes to producing high volume products such as Cadbury Dairy Milk tablets.
It’s important that we continue this journey and this investment will see us take full advantage of the efficiencies that modernisation, and upskilling can create to continue the growth and success of the Bournville site.
