"The job losses, and the families affected, are what first comes to mind. I have no doubt that the company will manage any confirmed losses through attrition as far as possible and that both unions and government agencies will be involved in seeking other work for those who face redundancy some time in the next three years."
However, the story was "remarkably positive" because Cadbury Dunedin was now positioned as a stable facility that other parts of the Cadbury network could rely on, he told the Otago Daily Times.
Cadbury Confectionery announced on Thursday it was planning to make 143 people redundant at its Dunedin plant between now and 2010, at the same time investing $51 million to increase production at the plant.
Mr Hodgson said it was two years since the Government decided to invest $2 million in Cadbury, conditional on the company trebling chocolate crumb manufacture. At that time, official advice was that the entire factory was at risk.
A briefing paper prepared for the Government by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise said Cadbury Schweppes had signalled it was rationalising the number of factories it operated globally.
That would result in the remaining factories growing in importance and size.
If Cadbury Dunedin did not position itself as a "key factory", it was highly likely that it would become obsolete.
"Cadbury Dunedin's management have stated that without a significant investment, such as for chocolate crumb, they fear the Dunedin site may cease to exist in 10 years' time," the briefing paper said.
Cadbury was planning in 2006 to make a capital investment of $20 million, with the Government contributing $2 millionThe briefing paper said that if Cadbury was not successful in securing the investment from its parent company, it was "highly unlikely" there would be any future expansion Cadbury's New Zealand operations and the ongoing viability of those operations would be under threat.
Mr Hodgson said Cadbury management was to be congratulated on the earlier investment of more than $20 million, especially because of the expenditure on research, much of which was carried out at the University of Otago.
"The end result is a high quality crumb product which has been part of the reason for a further $51 million.
"Cadbury has a higher technology future which will mean also a higher skilled future. Its productivity will increase significantly and in the future it has to be considered as a possible premier chocolate crumb manufacturer well beyond Australasia."
Because chocolate crumb was a precursor to other chocolate products, because dairying was now an established industry in Otago, and because the food technology skills at Otago University were close to the factory, the future of Cadbury Dunedin was now secure, he said.
