The Irish arm of Mondelez, the company behind the Cadbury brand, reported operating profits of just under €1.1m for its 2016 financial year. This is a significant improvement on the €3.8m operational loss recorded the previous year.

Pre-tax profits for Mondelez Ireland more than doubled to €9.3m, while sales declined 9% to €190m. The company attributed this decline in sales to the discontinuation of its coffee business.

However, the company noted significant headwinds facing the business.

“The market continues to be challenging in all the categories we operate in – confectionery, cheese and grocery – due to the weak economy impacting consumer spending,” warned the company.

Mondelez operates from two facilities in Ireland. The Rathmore, Co Kerry, plant sources more than 80m litres of milk from Kerry Group, Boherbue and Lee Strand to make chocolate crumb. About 60% of this crumb is used by the group’s Coolock plant in Dublin to make chocolate products, with the remaining 40% exported to the UK, US and Canada.