Comments on Jim's Chocolate Mission: January 23rd: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Editi...

Apparently Nestle are now thinking of merging with...

2010-01-26T17:47:17.382Z

Apparently Nestle are now thinking of merging with Hershey's:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60P31A20100126

Just to further your idea of the Cadbury Kraft fus...

2010-01-25T14:13:19.306Z

Just to further your idea of the Cadbury Kraft fusions: Dairy Milk Chocolate Philadelphia Cheese Cake! YUK!lol

i do not disagree with you jim it will be sad for ...

2010-01-25T07:57:27.441Z

i do not disagree with you jim it will be sad for the people losing their jobs and it will be equally as bas losing what is a life long living brand for me. i guess we don't know whay kraft will do with cadburys but lets cross all our fingers they do not do anything too bad.

Lol I wasn't being really serious about them repla...

2010-01-24T23:19:02.489Z

Lol I wasn't being really serious about them replacing FRYS with KRAFT (then again it did happen, with Nestle/Rowntrees and even Cadbury/Frys - many of Cadburys products were once Frys lol) and I'm not really anti Kraft in the wider sense of the issue - but, looking at some of the changes under their brandship, eg Terry's, I really fear for what may happen! I guess only time will tell.

Cybele You make some extremelly going points he...

2010-01-24T22:39:01.259Z

Cybele

You make some extremelly going points here ... your blog doesn't represent the US population .... neither does mine represent the UK, though I think the general uproar in our media suggests that the average Brit isn't very happy about the whole thing.

As I said to Phil and Alan above ... If Kraft were to kill off some of the more minor sub brands that Cadbury produce like the Star Bar / Fry's Turkish Delight etc I honestly wouldn't blame them.

As I said I imagine they cost quite a bit to produce and I am guessing they probably aren't efficent to make given that they are pretty intricate bars (Turkish Delight especially!).

I think for people to throw accusations of Kraft replacing the ingredients with crap is a wild and unfair thing to do ... as Alan reported above there is already vegetable fat in the original recipe.

The reason I think this whole issue has cut people so deep is the loss of the jobs and the heritage we lose with the potential loss of one of our eldest brands that so many people grew up with.

I guess this is a story that is nowhere near finishing ... in the mean time I think we all just need to see what happens before we make our final judgements.

Thanks
JIM

Rachel It is sad for a lot of people I know ......

2010-01-24T22:32:20.886Z

Rachel

It is sad for a lot of people I know ... lets hope that Kraft don't shut down the factories completely. I doubt they will.

Max

Indeed it would be interesting to see.

Alan

Lets hope that we never utter those words chap. I guess this is a poor way of looking at it but I guess in a way it is going to be exciting to see what happens don't you think.

David

This is jumping the gun a bit - I think Kraft are being billed as an evil corporation who are going to kill everything good about Cadbury ... lets see what they do with it first.

Colin

I wish I would say the same but I hate the stuff.

Anon #1

See what I said above! You could well be right.

Alan #2

That is an interesting story - it sorta proves that it isn't only American and other nationalities that put bad stuff in their chocolate now! We all seem to forget that Cadbury went down the vegetable fat inclusive root!

Phil

I am playing devils advocate here but ... wasn't it Cadbury themselves who have been downscaling their range a lot recently!? The Wispas are all gone, Cadbury DM with Biscuit, DM with Orange, DM with Mint, Fuse .... that is just naming a few!

If Kraft delisted the ones you mentioned I would be very disappointed but I would understand from a business perspective... I can imagine they have very small buyer bases.

Tricky

I did indeed enjoy Mr Rooney's play on Saturday. I share your feelings ... I have nothing against Kraft but I am sad to see this take place.

Alan #3

Sorry chap but this is where I think you are bordering on the anit-Kraft campaign a bit.

To suggest they would replace Fry's TD with Kraft Turkish Delight is a bit unfair - it isn't like they have anything like that in the past.

Like you say though I do like the fact the Cadbury continue to replace some of their smaller products despite the fact they must have smaller buyer numbers.

Daisy

That is really sad to hear. I hope she gets clarity on her job security soon.

Anon #2

I doubt Hotel Chocolat would sell up. They have a great business that is booming in the UK. I hope someone buys Thorntons soon ... they could do with a change in direction.

Emma

It is a shame to see them be bought but like Cybele says they produce in more places than just the UK.

Phil #2

good points! Thorntons has to be a highly undesrieable investment prospect.

Gabby

Blimey that sounds awful haha.

Justin

Fair point in some aspects but like Cybele says people that read her blog are hardly a representative sample of the entire US population.

Anon #3

Indeed I have ... nothing is set in stone just yet mind you! Fingers crossed they don't do anything to it.

Thanks everyone

JIM

Justin - Seriously? You think that a few comments ...

2010-01-24T20:54:54.499Z

Justin - Seriously? You think that a few comments on the blog are evidence of how a whole country thinks? (And how do you know which commenters were Americans if they didn't self-identify?)

I think Americans understand imperialism and have seen our own mega-corps ruin a heck of a lot of hometown stuff over the past 200 years.

As an American, I'm keenly aware of how little American there is left here ... even American owned corps produce so much overseas and import that they're barely American and have basically sold us off to China.

What a whole lot of people fail to see is that Kraft is buying Cadbury's global influence - the fact that Dairy Milk is the most popular chocolate in a dozen countries - for over a billion people is something to examine & duplicate, not trash. (And it's not like Cadbury is flawless in its global record either.)

That said - Kraft ruined Terry's Chocolate Orange and Toblerone. (I can't comment on Cote d'Or or Milka as I didn't have enough of it before the purchase.) I would not put it past them to "think they get it" and not. But I also wouldn't put it past Cadbury ... big corps are big corps. They're more interested in the bottom line (witness the contaminated chocolate incident).

I agree that the smaller brands are most in jeopardy, but a clever corp will sell them off so they can continue to exist at a modest profit margin. (Nabisco, which is now part of Kraft did this with things like Sugar Babies & Junior Mints.) I don't expect them to continue with their tiny nostalgic gum line though.

That said, I don't think Cadbury is all that. I regard them the same as Americans do with Hershey's. I like some of their products and have great fondness for them, but I don't, by any stretch of the imagination, call them a high-end or quality chocolate manufacturer. They make a factory product and it's tasty and hits the spot. I'd hate for them to stop making my favorite products, but I worry about that with ALL candy companies, not just the ones that are under new ownership.

Jim ..... have you realised that a thing sitting a...

2010-01-24T19:18:51.109Z

Jim ..... have you realised that a thing sitting at 2nd on the all time best board maybe struck off by this time next year?

If you look at Candy Blog none of the american peo...

2010-01-24T18:55:56.985Z

If you look at Candy Blog none of the american people understand why it is so upsetting for us that a US company takes over our British one.

Perhaps they should try thinking about what it would be like if the shoe was on the other and if Cadbury bought Hershey out. I think they would understand more then don't you.

Kraft make good cheese ....... Cadbury make good ...

2010-01-24T18:53:55.055Z

Kraft make good cheese .......

Cadbury make good chocolate ....

is their any potential here? Cadbury coated dairylea lol.

"I wonder how long before Thorntons and Hotel Choc...

2010-01-24T14:08:51.251Z

"I wonder how long before Thorntons and Hotel Chocolate gets snapped up by some corporate raiders or some such and ships off the production to China?"

^I doubt it, as far as I'm aware Thorntons sales are going down so I don't think they're a good investment. And if Hotel Chocolat was messed about with they would lose what makes them special, they just wouldn't work on a big scale.

I don't like thay many Cadburys chocolates so I am...

2010-01-24T13:18:54.643Z

I don't like thay many Cadburys chocolates so I am not as fussed as the majority of people here.

I think it is still a shame to see a British manufacturer to go down the pan.

I wonder how long before Thorntons and Hotel Choco...

2010-01-24T10:39:29.646Z

I wonder how long before Thorntons and Hotel Chocolate gets snapped up by some corporate raiders or some such and ships off the production to China?

It makes me more and more sad the more I think abo...

2010-01-24T10:05:14.692Z

It makes me more and more sad the more I think about it all.

I know someone who works at the HQ and she is totally in the dark as to what is happening with her job etc.

It is so unfair.

Dx

Thats also something I like about the Cadbury port...

2010-01-23T22:22:34.348Z

Thats also something I like about the Cadbury portfolio, they still happily produce bars that aren't necessarily in hugely wide distribution or make the most money (such as the Starbar or Curly Wurly or one of the only remaining Fry's bars, Turkish Delight for example as Phil says) but do have a place in consumers hearts and are widely regarded as a 'oh yes thats Cadbury' type bar! Dad will only eat Frys Turkish Delight, he doesn't like any other brand lol.

I suspect over time we may well see the quiet withdrawl or reformatting of the smaller - though iconic -ranges like CW or Fudges and a gradual alteration in quality to some extent though I sincerely hope not.

Can you imagine a Frys Chocolate Cream with, isntead of FRY etched into each segment you had KRAFT! It's probably not likey but I wouldn't put it past them!

I hate seeing Cadbury sold off - infact I am genui...

2010-01-23T21:39:01.372Z

I hate seeing Cadbury sold off - infact I am genuinely sad about it. I don't hold anything particularly against Kraft but I hate seeing this takeover happen.

p.s. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONEY lol bet you loved it Jimbo.

I read somewhere that some of Cadbury's smaller br...

2010-01-23T18:18:04.627Z

I read somewhere that some of Cadbury's smaller brands, like Starbar and Curly Wurly could be at risk of being de-listed to save on costs. Also apparently turkish delight, as it's only a small percentage of sales.

If Kraft change nothing about any of the products that exist now, I will be happy. However we have to wonder what they will change, will they try to cut costs by cheapening products? I read somewhere else that the new 'fairtrade' status of daily milk could also be at risk.

I'm partial to a Starbar, infact I buy it more often than many other choccy bars so I really hope it doesn't go.

Anonymous: Unfortunately it's highly unlikely that...

2010-01-23T15:55:58.756Z

Anonymous: Unfortunately it's highly unlikely that Kraft will 'end up changing absolutely nothing', after all usually the point of takeovers and mergers is to change something even if it doesn't need changing lol.

I read an interesting point about Cadbury chocolate the other day in the paper. In the early 2000's the EU tried to ban them from calling their chocolate 'chocolate' due to the inclusion of the small amount of vegetable oil in it..however, while it's tempting to think that the veg oil had been added at a later date due to costs, (as many other companies have done), Cadbury hit back with the fact that they actually still used the original Dairy Milk recipe - which had a small amount of veg oil in it! The EU gave in and changed the ruling to 'can include up to 5% veg oil' to still be called chocolate, hence why Cadbury has continued to call their chocolate chocolate! :)

I never knew any of that before! lol

Why has no one mentioned that this could spell the...

2010-01-23T13:37:05.494Z

Why has no one mentioned that this could spell the death of Cadbury Creme Eggs :(

I think people are making a fuss about nothing. Kr...

2010-01-23T13:31:36.665Z

I think people are making a fuss about nothing. Kraft could end up changing absolutely nothing.

I love Philadelphia cheese lol They is little comf...

2010-01-23T12:45:11.641Z

I love Philadelphia cheese lol They is little comfort for me though.

Long story cut short the whole situation SUCKS. Wh...

2010-01-23T10:53:37.274Z

Long story cut short the whole situation SUCKS. Why should we have our chocolate replaced by the crap that Kraft are going to make it in to. It is a sorry state of affairs.

I think I said everyting on the Hershey review, bu...

2010-01-23T10:45:11.304Z

I think I said everyting on the Hershey review, but it is a genuinely sad day for the UK and our industrial heritage.. it must surely be one of the only remaining companies that actually still largely practised it's Victorian Quaker ideals in a modern world - Bournville village even managed to fight off Tesco in opening an offlicence on the outskirts of the estate as it's still totally alcohol free as it was then. The Cadbury family are furious and I'm not surprised! One minor chink is the fact Cadbury still own the land leases. But overall, as you say Jim, in years to come we will be going 'yeah i remember the days of the glorious Cadbury Dairy Milk..'

Looking on the brightside of things for a minute t...

2010-01-23T10:39:43.873Z

Looking on the brightside of things for a minute the Dairy Milk Tobelerone does sound good lol.

Hi Jim this is a great round up of events and I ag...

2010-01-23T10:35:13.750Z

Hi Jim this is a great round up of events and I agree with you about everything. It is such a sad occurance - my uncle used to work in the factory in Bournville :(

Rxxx