No need for a golden ticket to visit this chocolate factory, but bookings are essential.
Some former Cadbury workers have wrangled exclusive access to the factory, and are offering tours before the large building is demolished to make way for the Dunedin Hospital rebuild.
At its peak, hundreds of employees worked at the factory, producing favourites such as Caramilk, Dairy Milk, Roses, Jaffas, Buzz Bars and Pinky Bars.
But the factory closed its doors in March 2018 in a decision made by Mondelez International – an offshoot of the giant American company Kraft – which took over Cadbury after a hostile takeover in 2009.
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Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
The Dunedin Hospital rebuild under way at the former Cadbury site.
That not only ended more than a century-long history of chocolate production on the site, which started with Richard Hudson, but also led to the loss of 350 jobs.
Megan Fairley worked at the factory for 17 years, beginning as a seasonal worker and then as a frontline leader, working on such diverse products as 250 gram chocolate bars to cream eggs.
Her favourite product was a Turkish chocolate available in the Milk Tray box of chocolates.
“Now we don’t even touch the stuff,” she said.
The company’s decision to shift production offshore left a bitter aftertaste for many.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Dunedin’s former Cadbury factory is set to be demolished to make way for a new hospital.
Fairley recalled the former factory filled with a vibrant, diverse and hardworking workforce, suddenly decimated by a managerial decision.
‘’There is still a lot of anger out there.’’
Fairley said to pull down the building without acknowledging those works ‘’felt a bit disrespectful’’.
‘’This was a huge part of Dunedin, it was the heart of a city. I remember as a kid coming here and the first thing you could smell is the chocolate.”
Fairley and a number of former workers decided to see if they could access the former factory, and sought help from Dunedin North MP, Dr David Clark.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
A blessing held at the former Cadbury factory, with Dunedin North MP Dr David Clark.
‘’He was so excited about it, and really supportive.”
Clark, a big driver of the $1.4billion rebuild, helped them get access via Christchurch-based Ceres New Zealand LLC, which is leading the demolition.
The former workers could have access to the building for two days at the end of November.
Tours, which would be a ticketed event, would be taken by former staff to areas never shown as part of official tours offered by the former tourism venture: Cadbury World.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
Demolition at the former Cadbury site.
Fairley said some former workers had struggled with life after Cadbury, including starting new jobs and working for different employers.
It would be good for some of them to guide tour groups all around the factory, share their stories and ”give them a voice’’, she said.
Money raised would go to I Am Hope NZ, a mental health charity started by Mike King.
Anyone interested in going on a tour could email Fairley at [email protected].
