Cadbury goes ‘healthy’ as part of rejig

Cadbury Schweppes is signalling a new push towards the launch of healthy products, as part of its global revamp announced this week.

It plans to launch a low-sugar variant of Dairy Milk chocolate, as it prepares for a raft of new product developments for the coming year.

The confectioner has also announced it is to focus on regional and local brands, as part of its Fuel for Growth plan. Unlike Unilever’s Path to Growth, the Cadbury initiative will not involve a brand cull or an increase in investment on global brands.

A spokeswoman for Cadbury says: “We are looking at a number of options and a low-sugar version of Dairy Milk is one of them. The launches will be driven by consumer tastes in local markets, which is why we are talking about the strengths of regional and not global brands.”

The company is also laying off 5,500 workers around the globe and shutting down a fifth of its factories as it tries to save £400m a year. It is not clear how this will affect jobs in the UK.