More confectionery manufacturers move outside US
The Hershey move of some confectionery lines from its Reading, US plant to Canada and Mexico seems to be a trend in confectionery manufacturing.
The closure of the plant lost about 260 jobs in the area. Still, comments Kirk Saville, a spokesman for Hershey, “90 percent of the Hershey products sold in the US and Canada will still be made in the US and Canada.”
The consumers are doubtful and the move jars with the strong trend of protectionism that is prevalent in the US currently. The very recent talks between president Obama and British prime minister Gordon Brown focused, among other things, on the battle of free trade versus protectionism that can harm the global economy.
Many confectionery manufacturers, such as Hershey, have saved money by moving their operations to other countries where the cost of labour is less expensive compared to the US, noted John Boyd, president of manufacturing location consulting firm The Boyd Co, recently in an article in the US newspaper York Daily Record. Labour costs are about a fifth in Mexico compared to the US and the cost of sugar has not reached the high US levels there.
