Karamellpojkarna, a subsidiary in the Cloetta Group, announces workforce reductions

Karamellpojkarna, a subsidiary in the Cloetta Group, announces workforce
reductions

AB Karamellpojkarna, a subsidiary in the Cloetta Group since October 2007, has
identified a need to reduce its workforce by 25 employees. The staff reduction
has been motivated by rising costs that have not been possible to offset through
increased revenue.

“Continued price pressure and aggressive competition in the market, combined
with factors like rising raw material prices and a weakened Swedish krona, have
impaired the company's profitability in the past year,” says Curt Petri,
Managing Director of Cloetta AB. “This calls for forceful measures to improve
efficiency. Because the factory in Alingsås is dimensioned for a production
volume that exceeds the currently forecasted volumes, this has resulted in a
need to reduce the number of employees.” 

This information was announced at a staff meeting today in Alingsås. The
redundancies will affect some 25 employees in both white and blue collar
positions that are currently employed by AB Karamellpojkarna.

“We deeply regret having to take measures of this type,” says Pierre Carnefeldt,
Managing Director of AB Karamellpojkarna. “But they are necessary in order to
adapt our operations to the market situation. The next step will be to begin
negotiations with the union representatives.”

For the future, a focus on Karamellpojkarna's Extra Starka brand will be a top
priority. Efforts to further develop and strengthen Extra Starka will be
intensified as a means for safeguarding the continued stability of operations in
Alingsås.

The information in this press release is subject to the disclosure requirements
of Cloetta AB (publ) pursuant to the Swedish Securities Market Act. The
information was submitted for publication on 16 March 2009, 12:55 CET.

For additional information contact
Curt Petri, Managing Director of Cloetta AB, mobile +46 70-593 2169 or Pierre
Carmefeldt, Managing Director of AB Karamellpojkarna, mobile +46 70-528 5060.


About Cloetta
Founded in 1862, Cloetta is the oldest and only major wholly Swedish
confectionery company in the Nordic region. The company's best known brands are
Kexchoklad, Center, Plopp, Polly, Tarragona, Guldnougat, Bridge, Juleskum,
Sportlunch and Extra Starka. Cloetta has two production units in Sweden, one in
Ljungsbro and one in Alingsås. For the period from 1 September 2007 to 31 August
2008, Cloetta reported pro forma net sales of approximately SEK 930 million. As
of 16 February 2009 Cloetta's class B shares are traded on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.
www.cloetta.com