I work as a Food and Beverage Industry analyst at one of major banks in Japan. Since I participated in Speight's Brewery and Cadbury Confectionery tours (as a tourist) in February 2004, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce them to you. If you are a beer or chocolate lover who happens to visit Dunedin in the future, then I suggest you book these tours for both sightseeing and tasting purposes. 1.Speight's Brewery [Facts] ・Established by Mr. Speights in 1876 ・Belongs to Lion Breweries as a result of amalgamation in 1920s ・Number of employees have dwindled to 38 due to modenization ・Brewery Tour has been operated since 1983 It includes introduction of beer history and manufacturing as well as tastings [Impression] It was interesting to take a look at a medium-sized brewery like this one, because in Japan there are only big suburban up-to-date breweries of major beer manufacturers and microbreweries in local areas. I was a bit surprised to find canning and bottling facility (in Christchurch) was separated from the brewery, as it is quite unusual in Japan. Presumably it is a good way of maintaining locally brewed brands while pursuing the merit of scale by canning and bottling many different brands at one facility. 2.Cadbury Confectionery [Facts] ・Arrived in Dunedin over 70 years ago when Cadbury acquired the business of R. Hudson & Co. Ltd. ・Produces about 85% of all chocolate manufactured in NZ ・One of the largest employers in Dunedin, with a staff of more than 650 people ・Public tour have started only within recent years It includes audiovisual displays and close-up looks of manufacturing processes [Impression] I did not find so much difference between this factory and Japanese confectionery factories (except perhaps a little more emphasis on hygienic control in the latter). But the fact the inventory here is lowest before Christmas Holidays reminded me that employees seem to be blessed with more rights and consumers are less overcautious about purchasing newer products, both compared with Japanese counterparts.
