Mondelēz International, the company behind Cadbury, Oreo, Toblerone and Ritz, has warned that future European investment could bypass the UK if regulatory instability persists.

Chief executive Dirk Van de Put says the UK is the company’s second-biggest market globally and contributes more than £2.3 billion to the economy each year, supporting 12,000 jobs and spending £1.3 billion with more than 1,000 UK suppliers. But he is sharply critical of food and drink being left out of the government’s industrial strategy, despite representing around a quarter of industrial turnover. He says the sector is being taken for granted and warns that repeated policy shifts have already cost Mondelēz £40 million in reformulation work that was then superseded by further changes. Asked whether future investment could go elsewhere in Europe because of government policy, he says: “Yes, of course.”

Van de Put also defends Mondelēz’s decision to continue operating in Russia, despite acknowledging the company pays taxes there that contribute to the war in Ukraine. He argues that withdrawal would have put 3,000 employees out of work, left 10,000 farmers without a buyer, and likely handed confiscated plants to Kremlin-linked interests that could generate even more money for the Russian state. He says: “I’m not pleased about that,” but maintains that staying was “not the most popular decision” but “the right decision”.

The conflict in Ukraine is not theoretical for Mondelēz. Van de Put reveals that the company’s office building in Ukraine was hit on the morning of the interview, and its factories have been struck and rebuilt twice at a cost of tens of millions. He also said staff were evacuated to neighbouring countries during the worst of the fighting.

More broadly, he describes the past two years as the toughest of his 30-year career. Wars, inflation, oil prices, packaging costs, fertiliser markets and weak household budgets have created cascading pressure across the business. He says global consumer confidence is among the worst he has ever seen.

The cocoa supply chain has also suffered its worst disruption in at least 40 years. Concentrated production in Ghana and Ivory Coast, endemic crop disease and back-to-back extreme weather events drove an 18 per cent fall in harvests and sent prices soaring. Two stronger crops have eased the immediate pressure, but Van de Put says the structural fragility remains and the sector needs long-term intervention from governments, companies and farming communities.

He also pushes back against the backlash against processed food, saying: “The world cannot live without processed foods.” He argues that processing is essential to food preservation and global food security, though he accepts the industry must continue to make products healthier.

On GLP-1 weight loss drugs, Van de Put says Mondelēz is not yet seeing a material impact, but expects the trend to reshape consumer habits over time. He sees the drugs as broadly positive and says the company is adapting through acquisitions in protein and health snacking, including Grenade, Clif Bar and Perfect Snacks, as well as developing products with more protein, fibre and cleaner ingredients.

Presenter: Leanna Byrne Producer: Olie D’Albertanson Editor: Henry Jones

0:00 Will and Leanna intro the podcast 03:01 Dirk Van de Put interview begins / His background as a vet 08:53 Forces shaping the business: wars, tariffs, climate, cocoa, regulation, GLP-1 drugs 13:25 Europe as a difficult market / Consumer confidence at historic lows16:28 Continuing operations in Russia / Moral decisions & taxes funding the war 21:51 Cocoa supply chain crisis, El Niño & prices 24:27 Consumer pricing, shrinkflation & recipe integrity 29:30 UK industrial strategy: food industry left out 33:00 Future investment in UK & HFSS regulation 36:07 Education vs. regulation on obesity & weight loss drugs 41:48 Acquisitions (Grenade, Clif Bar) & protein/fibre trends 43:50 Chocolate tasters & "tasting Neanderthal" confession