London, Oct. 22 - Smarties are moving abroad after 70 years, the latest chocolate to shift production from Britain after Black Magic went to the Czech Republic and Dairy Box decamped to Spain.
Nestle Rowntree confirmed the move from York to Hamburg in Germany was on track to be completed by the end of the year.
The move, expected to cost almost 650 jobs, has angered unions which accuse the company of having failed to invest properly in the York factory.
Smarties were first made at York in 1937 and Nestle sells around 73 million pounds worth of them a year now.
It says the decision to relocate is part of a programme to safeguard the long-term employment of the York factory.
"This is part of the company's planned changes to the York factory, announced in September 2006, which includes a 20 million pound investment to expand the site's state of the art facilities and safeguard long-term employment for over 1,800 employees," said Managing Director Paul Grinwood in an emailed statement.
KitKat and Aero will continue to be made at York.