A further 180 jobs in the confectionery industry are in doubt after Broadmeadows company Betta Foods was put into administration.
Barely a week after Melbourne chocolatier Ernest Hillier was put into administration, the Broadmeadows-based Betta Foods followed a similar path and will be handled by the same administrators, Cor Cordis.
Betta Foods is best known for making Eskimo chocolate snowballs and the Capricorn brand of licorice, along with ice-cream cones and jellies, and supplies products to Woolworths and Coles.
Cor Cordis administrator Bruno Secatore said it would be business as usual for Betta Foods while its finances are assessed.
“We are confident that the business can be sold as a going concern, which will result in the preservation of jobs.
The company has revenues of about $40 million, and the first meeting of creditors will take place on January 30.
Mr Secatore is also handling the Ernest Hillier administration, with both companies being owned by the same British company.
The highly competitive chocolate and confectionery market has been challenged by a spike in cocoa prices.
The problems at Ernest Hillier and Betta Foods come after rival chocolate brand Darrel Lea collapsed in 2012.
This story first appeared in The Age
