Kraft chief defends no-show at Cadbury Select Committee

THE head of US food giant Kraft has defended herself over criticisms she snubbed MPs during their inquiry into the firm’s takeover of Birmingham chocolate maker Cadbury.

Irene Rosenfeld said she had chosen not to attend two sessions of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee because it was not the best use of her personal time.

MPs on the committee were critical of Kraft following the £11.5bn takeover last year and its subsequent U-turn when it went back on its initial word to keep the Cadbury plant at Keynsham, near Bristol open.

The decision cost the jobs of hundreds of workers as production of products such as Dairy Milk was switched to a factory in Poland.

The MPs wanted assurances that such a situation would not be repeated and that should further closures be warranted then a full consultation would be carried out.

Despite repeated demands for her to attend the committee’s first hearing, Ms Rosenfeld declined and sent one of her senior vice presidents instead.

Quoted in US publication Bloomberg Businessweek, Ms Rosenfeld said: “I’ve spent a lot of time in the UK with the folks that really matter to me, employees and other constituents,” she said.

She added that she had answered all the select committee’s questions and that there was no information to provide.

Turning her attention to the UK’s media’s coverage of the affair, she said: “As we accomplish our objectives, a lot of concerns will fall away. There’s been a lot of hype, and one of the challenges with the UK media is that they’re not always accurate.”

She said she had recognised the takeover would be difficult because of the iconic nature of the Cadbury brand.

“Shareholders like Warren Buffett expressed concern that we [Kraft] were using stock. There was a public outcry. I had hoped it would be a friendlier transaction, but the challenge was that the target wasn’t anxious to be acquired,” she was quoted as saying.

The company’s acquisition of Cadbury was subsequently criticised by the Takeover Panel and the situation prompted calls for the Government to introduce a Cadbury Law, effectively banning such a situation from occurring again.