Wilbur Chocolate owner Cargill to close a manufacturing plant in Lititz

Cargill Inc., which owns the legendary Wilbur Chocolate brand - maker of Wilbur Buds - said Thursday that it will close its century-old chocolate-manufacturing plant in Lititz, cutting 130 jobs and reassigning 30 others.

Production at the brick factory on North Broad Street there will be shifted in January to more modern and efficient plants on West Lincoln Avenue in Lititz and in Mount Joy, Hazelton, Milwaukee, and Ontario, Cargill said.

"There is no change to the brand or the product offerings," Cargill spokesman Pete Stoddart said in an interview.

Wilbur Buds are made "at a number of different plants," Stoddart said. "The Wilbur Bud isn't going anywhere. The product is not changing at all. It's a longstanding brand that is important to the business, and will continue to be."

The Wilbur Chocolate Candy Americana Museum and candy store at 48 N. Broad St. next to the plant will remain open.

In January, Cargill said, it also will move its North American cocoa and chocolate operation leadership, administrative, and customer-service jobs from Lititz to Milwaukee and Minneapolis, where the company is headquartered.

As a result of the changes, 130 people, mostly working at the older North Broad Street plant, will lose their jobs. Thirty employees will be reassigned or offered positions at other Cargill North American cocoa and chocolate sites, the company said.

"The families are going to be devastated by this," said Lititz Mayor Tim Snyder. "As far the town, there's going to be significant impact because 130 people come out most days to buy lunch, so local merchants will be affected."

The business manager for Chocolate Workers Local 464, which represents employees at the soon-to-be shuttered plant, could not be reached for comment.

"These are very difficult decisions, especially when they involve people who have done such great work for us over the years," said Bryan Wurscher, Cargill's president of cocoa and chocolate operations in North America. "We are committed to helping those who are impacted find other employment and assist them with this transition."

The changes come about a year after Cargill bought six chocolate plants - three in North America and three in Europe - for $440 million from rival Archer Daniels Midland Inc.

Cargill purchased Wilbur Chocolate in 1992.

The candy company has its origins in Croft, Wilbur & Co., founded in Philadelphia in 1865. The firm, which made molasses and hard candies to sell to train passengers, split off its chocolate business in 1884 and ultimately moved it to Lancaster County.

Wilbur Chocolate's best-known candy, the Wilbur Bud, debuted in 1894.

The North Broad Street plant makes chocolate, chocolate liquor, and compound chocolate made from cocoa, vegetable fat, and sweeteners.

Cargill's cocoa and chocolate business operates at 27 plants in 11 countries, supplying the food industry with cocoa powders, chocolate, coatings, fillings, cocoa liquors, and cocoa butters.

Cargill will continue to employ about 2,200 across Pennsylvania in its cocoa and chocolate, salt, animal nutrition, and beef businesses, the company said.

The Philadelphia region is a hotbed for chocolate processing and manufacturing. Last year, 97,688 tons of cocoa beans arrived as a "break-bulk" cargo on pallets, and more than 50,000 tons were delivered in truck-size containers to the Philadelphia port.

Within 100 miles of the Delaware River are four large cocoa processors that grind raw beans into cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and chocolate ingredients to make candy, ice cream, cookies, and cakes. They are Blommer Chocolate Co. in East Greenville; Barry Callebaut AG in Eddystone and Pennsauken; Cargill (formerly Archer Daniels Midland), and Mars Inc., maker of M&M candies, in Elizabethtown, Pa., and Hackettstown, N.J.

The companies, in turn, sell to confection manufacturers Hershey Co., Mars Snackfood, Kraft Foods Inc., Tasty Baking Co., Asher's Chocolates Inc., and Goldenberg's Peanut Chews, all in this region.

lloyd@phillynews.com

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