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Kraft opens £17m research base at Cadbury in Birmingham | Kraft opens £17m research base at Cadbury in Birmingham |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A new research and development facility has been officially opened at the home of Cadbury in Birmingham. | A new research and development facility has been officially opened at the home of Cadbury in Birmingham. |
Owners Kraft Foods unveiled its Global Centre of Excellence for Chocolate Research and Development in Bournville. | |
The £17m centre, opened by the science minister David Willetts, is set to create 54 new jobs and will feature innovation labs, a pilot plant and a kitchen for experimentation. | |
In December, it emerged that Kraft was to cut 200 jobs at three Cadbury sites. | |
The food giant, which bought Cadbury for £11.5bn in 2010, said the funding would allow Bournville to build on its heritage, develop new products and test consumer tastes. | |
Tony Bilsborough, from Cadbury, said: "When George and Richard Cadbury opened Bournville back in the 1870s, it wasn't simply a factory that made chocolate, it also invented some of the great names we know today. | |
"So it's wonderful to be here in 2012, celebrating innovation; research and development. | |
"We're back at the heart of what makes this company great." | |
Bristol closure | |
Professor David Bailey, from Coventry University's Business School, said: "I think it is important in terms of new high quality jobs. | |
"But more importantly, I think it's about securing the Bournville plant in the medium term. | |
"I still have fears for the long term given the Kraft takeover and how they've behaved in the past with companies." | |
Despite planning to spend £50m on chocolate and biscuit making, the firm has said that 200 posts were to go in Bournville, Chirk in Wrexham, and Marlbrook in Herefordshire. | |
"We're trying to manage that through voluntary redundancy," added Mr Bilsborough. | |
The former Cadbury factory in Bristol was closed in January 2011, with the loss of 600 jobs. | The former Cadbury factory in Bristol was closed in January 2011, with the loss of 600 jobs. |
Kraft's chocolate research centre was originally based in Munich, where the company developed products such as Milka and Toblerone. |