NEW ZEALAND – Mondelez International, an American multinational confectionery and beverage company, has moved from its Dunedin site in New Zealand to Australia, with 300 jobs lost.
According to nzherald.co.nz, the move came after bids to find a local manufacturer failed despite an ‘exhaustive search and extensive work with a potential supplier’ no local manufacturer had been found.
Mondelez New Zealand country head James Kane also said the company had invested in an exhaustive search to find a potential manufacturer.
“Unfortunately, we only received one formal response to the RFP documents from a local supplier that was interested in manufacturing the full portfolio of Kiwi products in New Zealand,” Kane said.
“We’ve worked very closely with that supplier over the last six months to try and find a way for them to take on the work; however the unique requirements of these products – particularly the marshmallow-based products – meant it simply wasn’t possible.”
Mondelez International will now focus on shifting production to Australia early next year.
“The iconic Kiwi products require particular technologies, production processes and skills, and very few manufacturers anywhere in the world could take on this work while continuing to match our product requirements,” Kane said.
Dunedin South MP Clare Curran had said the decision to send manufacturing to Australia shows the multinational “was never serious about keeping some local production.”
Curran, who was part of a working group set up to prioritise a Dunedin-based solution for a third party to take over the operation, left in July, saying the group did not have a practical role in the solution.
“Mondelez has said today that they have been unable to identify a manufacturer in New Zealand to make the products,” she said.
“This is because they made it impossible for a third party production to get off the ground.”
