More Cadbury Dairy Milk production to return to Bournville

New investment means 125 million more Dairy Milk bars will be made in Birmingham

The owner of Cadbury is set to return more of its Dairy Milk production to its historic Bournville factory.

Mondelez International - which owns the chocolate brand - said some production in continental Europe would return to the UK.

Announcing a £15m investment at the Birmingham site, the company said from 2022, 125 million more Dairy Milk bars would be manufactured there.

Bournville village was built by the Cadbury brothers in the 1870s.

Bournville has been home to Cadbury since the 1870s

Mondelez' UK managing director Louise Stigant said Bournville was still considered the "heart of Cadbury" and bringing more Dairy milk production back "home" offered an opportunity to invest in the plant.

Until now, about two thirds of Cadbury's chocolate has been made in Birmingham, and the company said the new investment would see "almost all" of its products made at Bournville.

About £11m of the new funding will go towards a new production line.

The remaining £4m will be spent increasing its chocolate-making capacity.

Last year, Bournville produced 35,000 tonnes of Cadbury Dairy Milk tablets - about 234 million bars - and this investment will allow them to make an additional 12,000 tonnes of chocolate.

Some production will remain overseas, Mondelez said, and the firm also confirmed the investment would not lead to the creation of any new jobs.

• Memories of Cadbury's 'factory in a garden'

• Latest news and updates from the West Midlands

"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," Ms Stigant added.

Millions of chocolate bars are produced at the Bournville factory

Joe Clarke, national officer for Unite, said the decision meant the long-term security of the site was now "very positive".

"It's exceptional news as a proud Brummie who's looked after the site Cadbury site for a number of years, it's always good to see job security, investment and more products coming back to the UK and in particular Birmingham," he said.

"It's the home of Cadbury Dairy Milk and I think it's welcome to be having this increase in volumes with the increase in demand for chocolate under the present times we are enduring."

Mondelez, which owns other brands including Toblerone and Milka, is one of the largest chocolate, biscuit and coffee producers in the EU.

"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," Bournville manufacturing director, Roberto Gambaccini, said.

"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."