The British chocolate industry seems to be in meltdown.
Nestle Rowntree is to cut 645 jobs at its York factory as it moves production of Smarties to Germany, Black Magic to the Czech Republic and Dairy Box to Spain.
The announcement comes just six months after the company made 243 people redundant, and a year after Terry's of York - the makers of that Christmas stocking staple, the Chocolate Orange - shut up shop for good and its parent company, Kraft, moved production across the channel.
Fierce competition from Mars and Cadbury is apparently behind this latest move, but Cadbury has had its share of disaster this year too, with a salmonella scare prompting the recall of 1m chocolate bars.
The latest news will hit hard in York, which has been at the heart of British chocolate production since the 19th century.
An industry built up by local Quaker families such as the Rowntrees now appears to be being slowly dismantled by multinationals such as Nestle. The former provided workers with free education and healthcare, and built houses for low-income households, while the latter will demolish the Victorian factory where Smarties were made and replace it with a development that includes residential units, allowing the company to benefit from high house prices.
But while the move away from UK shores may upset staunch supporters of national manufacturing and Smarties fans alike, it's unlikely to staunch the British appetite for chocolate.
