Cadbury Owner Stockpiles Goods in Case of Bitter Brexit Breakup

(Bloomberg) -- Mondelez International Inc., the owner of chocolate-maker Cadbury, is stockpiling goods and ingredients in a bid to avoid any shortfall for U.K. customers in the event of a hard Brexit.

The U.K. alone can’t provide the ingredients for the confectionery company’s products, Hubert Weber, president of Mondelez’s European arm, said in an interview with the Times of London published Tuesday. Mondelez is stacking up goods in case the country’s withdrawal from the European Union creates import delays.

Companies across Europe and beyond are laying out plans to prepare for supply interruptions and shortages threatened by the creation of a border between the U.K. and the EU. Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc said in July it was considering stockpiling components as the outcome of a Brexit deal remained unclear, while pharmaceutical companies such as U.S.-based Merck & Co. have also included higher inventories in their contingency plans.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, gave the U.K. some reason for optimism Monday when he said a Brexit deal was six to eight weeks away. Still, any agreement would most likely be lacking in detail, with most of the meaningful decisions on alignment of trade and regulations likely to be postponed until after Britain leaves the bloc in March.

A spokeswoman for Mondelez confirmed Weber’s comments, saying that the company is monitoring the political situation and “preparing for a number of potential outcomes.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Suzi Ring in London at sring5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Lauerman, Thomas Mulier

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.