Never mind the poor souls who are dying under the rubble of what was once Haiti, it seems the British public has a bigger concern.
It seems that Cadbury's, the chocolate company, is about to be taken over by an American company!
And what is the biggest concern? That they will be asset stripped and shut down? That the workers will lose their jobs when production is taken overseas?
No.
Not close.
The main fear seems to be that an American owner will suddenly decide that the chocolate should be made to the same recipe as American chocolate - which most Brits agree can be pretty horrible. Are they serious? Who would pay billions of dollars for a long running company and them change their product beyond recognition? If they wanted to do that they could just start shipping Hershey Bars over here, couldn't they? Dumb.
And this is being discussed in great detail while people are dying under the rubble in Haiti...
10 comments:
Excuse my inferior tastebuds... but I think most chocolate taste the same. But I understand if it's the national pride at stake here.
Cadbury is British, to Americanize it would not be proper.
I think you need to eat more chocolate - or not, perhaps! When you get down to it, there is a lot of variation in chocolate - strength of flavour, sweetness, creaminess, etc. The British seem to be fairly fussy! And I guess you are right - there is national pride at stake, even though most of our other industry is already owned by someone else anyway!
Supposedly, that's progress. You build a great product everyone loves, you develop a brand following, you grow the reputation to world class proportions and then someone comes along and buys up the name. It's not the first time, not gonna be the last.
Kinda like Tata buying Jaguar, Ford buying Volvo, or InBev buying Budweiser (you shoulda heard the hoopla over that one). Maybe they'll come out with Cadbury Oreos? Stupider decisions have been made in board rooms. There ought to be a law against national icons getting sold like that.
I agree that everyone's priorities might be a bit mixed up. Right now the tragedy in Haiti rates almost as much media attention as the Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien story.
Same fears when Belgian brewer InBev bought the American beer icon Anheuser-Busch. Actually the beer choices have gotten better along with the old tried and true.
Not a fan of M&Ms huh?
Goes to show people love their chocolate and don't want anything to get in the way of their chocolate fix. For some people, talking about the chocolate is a way of ignoring the huge event in Haiti because it is just too huge and too depressing. We are only human and weak and cannot run 24/7 on horrible tragedy. It is the same here. That is interesting about the Cadbury's buyout, I have been watching it on the internet news for awhile. I didn't know that as you say that the Brits like a different kind of chocolate or different tasting chocolate.
agg79 - That's it isn't it? Everyone is owned by someone else these days so this sort of reaction is pretty dumb, IMO. Yes, I had noticed that O'Brien was getting a lot of attention too!
Wreggie - But Belgians do great beer! I like our M&Ms, not sure about yours. Not like mini Hershey Bars, I hope!
wigsf - Chocolate as a cornerstone of modern civilization - what a great concept!
TechnoBabe - Hi! British choc is different to European which is different to American. Generally. Some brands seem to be the same or at least very similar. I guess you are right about wanting a break from disaster stories.
I've been watching this take over for sometime because I watch the market news. This concern of changing the recipe would have never crossed my mind. But now that it's been brought up - they going to come out with macaroni and chocolate - pass it on.
I think it's funny that the Brits find such a huge difference in American chocolate vs. British chocolate. I love Hershey bars. I love those Cadbury cream eggs. I'm not sure I could tell you the difference in the chocolate.
They WILL change the recipe...it is cost effective to do so. And the American's will still by it thinking it is your chocolate because we will buy and eat ANYTHING.
lisleman - is that chocolate-coated or is the choc inside? Or chocolate-coated with cheese inside?
Teresa - Hey a smile! Great to see it!
Terri - Ah, cream eggs - I have got a box of them by the side of my bed! Maybe we are more aware of differences because of the different types that we get bombarded with? English, good European (eg Belgian) rubbish European, Fairtrade, etc. Or maybe we are just snobs?
Sparky - Thanks for that interesting view! I hope you are wrong, I really do!
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