Sweet Centre: Kraft brings chocolate home to Bournville

Kraft, the Illinois-based cheese-slice maker that bought Cadbury last year, has picked the UK confectioner's historic home of Bournville as its chocolate centre ahead of sites in the US and Switzerland.

Bournville will see 54 new jobs this year as part of Kraft's UK investment strategy. The global chocolate centre will "drive new product development and new technologies" for chocolate brands, Kraft said.

A research site focusing on coffee in Reading will also benefit, with around 44 new jobs. The research and design teams in the UK will grow by nearly 100 to 650 employees by the end of the year.

The Kraft chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld, said Kraft had exceeded its commitments to maintain Cadbury's R&D sites in the UK after its takeover.