Confectionery company, Zed Candy, has announced that it is to transfer manufacturing from its plant in Kilcock, Co Kildare, to China in mid 2008.
Production will continue in Kilcock until then but the closure of the factory in will result in a loss of 75 manufacturing jobs.
Brendan Roantree, Managing Director, broke the news to employees at lunchtime today. He said that while the company sincerely regretted this decision it had no option based on the cost of manufacturing in Ireland compared with costs in China.
"In recent years Zed Candy has struggled to maintain profitability in a very competitive international business environment and rising manufacturing costs in particular have contributed to the decision to transfer production to China", he said in a statement.
"Due to its export focus Zed Candy has not benefited from Ireland's buoyant economy, yet we have been hit by increasing manufacturing costs," he added.
Following the closure of the Kilcock factory, the company will transfer production to a new facility in Dong Guan near Hong Kong.