Griffins has moved production of some of its biscuits to Fiji but didn’t come clean on the decision until pressed by the press (a sharp-eyed reporter from the Dominion Post noticed the “Buy New Zealand Made” logo had disappeared from the packaging).
They reckon it’s all because demand has exceeded the Auckland factory’s production capacity. Yeah, right. Maybe it was time to spend money increasing the production capacity? You want us to spend our money on your products, do the decent thing and provide jobs here in the market where you make your money.
Cadbury has also made the offshore move with a lot of its products and it looks like the punters aren’t happy about it. Fair enough, too: the Minties (now made in Thailand) aren’t as chewy as they should be and Moro and Crunchy bars are going to be made in Aussie. Come on Cadbury, those are Kiwi icons! The decision to do away with Sparkles, Snifters and a few other oldies but goodies didn’t win the company any brownie points, either.
It’s interesting that Cadbury did back down on the whole palm oil thing, finally deciding to stop using the evil stuff in its products after a huge backlash from customers. If you ask me, it was a pretty stupid move to go changing recipes for established old favourites in the first place: you don’t go messing with a mixture that’s worked for years (just ask Coke!), and then there’s the moral implications of using an ingredient so controversial.
I’m guessing Cadbury must have taken a huge consumer hit during their wee foray into palm oil and that many chocaholics discovered the joys of that other iconic Kiwi brand (no palm oil and still made here): Whittakers. Let’s face it, Cadbury wouldn’t have decided to tour the country, handing out wads of free chocolate, if they didn’t have some ground to make up.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, if you fancy a snack of that other Kiwi favourite of chip and dip, you’ll be able to make it using NZ-made Maggi onion soup mix and but that can of Nestle reduced cream with the label proudly proclaiming itself ”The original Kiwi dip” is made in Australia.
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