25 January 2010 | Jake Kanter

Kraft Foods has pledged that jobs at Cadbury will be protected through procurement savings.

Michael Osanloo, the US company’s executive vice-president, strategy, told the Daily Telegraph on Saturday that cutbacks as a result of its £11.9 billion takeover of Cadbury will be made in areas that did not affect staff.

"I genuinely believe that we can create a tremendous amount of savings in things like procurement, on how we source cocoa, dairy, sugar, packaging and advertising,” Osanloo said.

“I am very optimistic that the vast majority of our synergy savings will come from things that do not affect jobs."

Osanloo’s comments contradicted those of Cadbury chairman Roger Carr, who said last week that job cuts at the company’s headquarters were an “inevitability”. Cadbury told SM it was too early to say whether buyers were at risk.

Kraft is targeting pre-tax savings of at least $675 million (£414 million) a year as a result of the merger. Detailing the move last week, it highlighted purchasing as a key part of its cost reduction strategy.