Creme Eggs - the DEATH KNELL!

[faceless]

[pirtybirdy]

Yummy!

[Skylace]

[luke]

nothing will get the british public against the deployment of troops in afghanistan more than this - bring the troops back and protect our chocolate from the americans!

i only know kraft from their plastic 'cheese' slices

i hope they don't change the cream eggs, thats all i eat from cadburys, the rest of their chocolate always seems to sweet to me

[pirtybirdy]

Ha ha ha Luke! We got your eggs!

[Skylace]

The only thing I can hope is that Kraft makes them bigger again!

[faceless]

I just saw that it's not actually been confirmed that the sale will go ahead yet... there's a shareholder meeting on the 2nd of February.

[SpursFan1902]

I guess if the choice is Cadbury's owned by Kraft or no Cadburys, I would choose Cadburys owned by Kraft. It doesn't sound like Cadburys was doing so well on it's own, so...I am with you Sky...BIGGER EGGS!!!

[Skylace]

I love the fact that I didn't even have to use the word "eggs" Spurs and you knew what I meant! We are so in synch

[luke]

[SquareEyes]

First part - Copied from reuters.com.

Pictures copied from somewhere else



* Hershey could not counter higher Kraft bid

* No other major acquisition targets seen

* Nestle seen watching, waiting

By Brad Dorfman and Jessica Hall

CHICAGO/PHILADELPHIA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - At least Hershey Co (HSY.N) tried.

The maker of Hershey Kisses and Reese's peanut butter cups was roused to assemble a counter offer after Kraft Foods (KFT.N) launched a hostile bid for Cadbury (CBRY.L). Many in the candy business saw it as Hershey's last chance to bust out of the mature U.S. market.

But with the British maker of Dairy Milk and Creme Eggs agreeing to be bought by Chicago-based Velveeta cheese and Ritz cracker maker Kraft, Hershey will have to return to a strategy of expanding internationally through joint ventures and small acquisitions. [ID:nL9294700]

"It definitely puts Hershey back to where it was a couple of months ago, focused on its domestic operations," Morningstar analyst Erin Swanson said.

Any attempt to become a global confectioner would have to be done on a piece-meal basis, through smaller acquisitions.

"They would not be able to acquire that whole platform all at once as if they acquired Cadbury," she said.

On Tuesday, Cadbury agreed to be acquired by Kraft after the U.S. food group raised its bid to $19.6 billion (11.9 billion pounds). The deal ended a months-long struggle by Hershey to raise a counter offer for Cadbury without the controlling Hershey Trust giving up its hold on the company.

The trust owns about 80 percent of the voting shares of Hershey Co and requires the approval of Pennsylvania's attorney general before giving up that voting control. Hershey also was hard-pressed to finance a deal to buy a company more than twice its size.

While Hershey has until Monday to decide if it wants to top Kraft's offer, Cadbury's board has already recommended the Kraft deal. A source familiar with the situation said Hershey was unlikely to try and compete at that price.

"They would have been fools not to look at Cadbury. But that doesn't mean they are hurt without it," said a second source familiar with the situation.

"I don't see them doing a massive acquisition. Cadbury was a unique opportunity. It's hard to find another company of that size and scope," said the source.

ANY BOLD MOVES LEFT?

Barring an unexpected turn, Kraft will join Mars Inc at the top of global candy world with about 15 percent of the market each. Hershey, at No. 4 with less than 5 percent of the market, sells Cadbury in the United States under a licensing deal and could eventually lose that to Kraft.

"This might finally force Hershey to think about who they are and who they want to be and act more boldly," said Edward Jones food industry analyst Matt Arnold.

But there might not be any bold moves left in the candy business.

"There are not that many assets on the market that do not have any major barriers to acquisition," said Ildiko Szalai, Food company analyst at Euromonitor International.

No. 3 confectionery player Nestle (NESN.VX) pulled itself out of any bidding for Cadbury at the same time it agreed to buy Kraft's pizza business earlier this month.

One food industry consultant said that Nestle has considered the idea of selling its confectionery business to further hone its focus as a health and wellness company.

But Szalai said that confectionery still is a significant business for Nestle, known for its chocolate of the same name, and the company is unlikely to sell those operations any time soon.

Some analysts also noted that Nestle thinks very long-term and could eventually look to a joint venture with Hershey or even an acquisition if the Hershey Trust ever decided to sell.

Italy's privately held Ferrero, No. 5 in the market, was considering joining a bid for Cadbury, not selling itself. So, it makes an unlikely target for Hershey to gain international footing.

That could leave smaller players like Perfetti van Melle and Lindt & Sprungli (LISP.S), but Szalai did not see either of those being for sale.

Hershey has been one of the better performing confectionery companies in the recession as its mainstream brands have sold well while premium players like Lindt have struggled.

[luke]

Cadbury's Demise a Disaster for Ghana

Cadbury’s were using Fair Trade Cocoa for generations before the phrase was invented.

Cocoa in Ghana is a smallholding crop, with individual farmers having a hectare or two of mixed crops, including cocoa. It is not a plantation crop as it is in Brazil or Ivory Coast. That is why Ghanaian cocoa is of higher quality, and commands a premium on commodity markets. Cadbury’s chocolate in the UK uses 95% Ghanaian cocoa.

The Catholic Orangemen of Togo, p184

A major reason that Ghana is the most stable and successful of Sub-Saharan African countries, is that traditional landholding patterns were not broken up by colonial usurpation. (White men – and their cattle – died like flies in the climate here. Wheat wilted).

Cocoa farming has for well over a century provided the backbone of a thriving agrarian society in Ghana. That widespread economic base has in turn enabled the continuation of traditional chieftaincy institutions and other indigenous forms of government.

Colonial population displacement is the root cause of many of Africa’s conflicts. In Kenya and Zimbabwe, conflicts we dismiss as tribal or as the result of African bad governance, in fact come down to the long term consequences of tribes displaced from their land by the British, and being forced to settle in other tribes’ territory.

If you don’t understand that, you don’t know Africa. The idea that the land was desolate before whites came, or that African forms of agriculture are unproductive, is nonsense which I tackle in The Catholic Orangemen of Togo.

Displacement to form vast cocoa estates has been part of the cause of conflict in Ivory Coast. The estates are attended with other evils – erosion and devastation of soil nutrients caused by monoculture, widespread use of child labour, and the conversion of independent small farmers to landless day labourers. These are but some of the ill effects.

The estates also produce low quality cocoa. It seems a truth in agriculture that over-intensive monoculture produces tasteless food. Most British people realize that Cadbury’s chocolate tastes better, but don’t know why. The answer is in the cocoa.

What Cadbury’s use in the UK is from independent Ghanaian smallholders, and is the equivalent of wines from an ancient small chateau or boutique Californian estate. They pay extra for it, and their willingness to pay extra has been a key part of keeping the Ghanaian small farmer going.

Kraft on the other hand use the mass produced estate cocoa; the equivalent of soulless and tasteless wine from multiple fields and huge stainless steel tanks. They source mostly in Brazil – the World’s most tasteless cocoa – and Ivory Coast. The bad taste in the mouth from the cocoa is both real and metaphorical. The estates in both countries make massive use of child labour.

It is a fact that Cadbury’s practices in dealing fairly with small African farmers dated back directly to the ethical precepts of their Quaker founders. I had occasion to prepare a report for the British government on the Ghanaian cocoa industry, in response to concerns about the use of child labour on Ivory Coast estates. I visited numerous Ghanaian farmers and Cadbury’s headquarters in the process, and have met Cadbury’s buyers in the field in West Africa over twenty years.

I have no doubt that in order to rack up the return on their vast investment, Kraft will switch to the cheap and nasty cocoa they normally use. This could be the worst thing to hit the Ghanaian rural economy since blackpod disease.

I sympathise entirely with those concerned about the effects in the UK of this takeover – just the latest manifestation of the fact that our society knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

But try to spare a thought for the ill effects in Africa too.

from http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/01/cadburys_demise.html

[SpursFan1902]

[luke]

'Milka Creme Eggs' and smaller bars? Exodus from Cadbury as fears grow over break from tradition


Shell shock: Creme Eggs 'could be made with powdered chocolate from Germany'

The new American owners of Cadbury have been hit by an exodus of key staff since they took over six months ago.

A total of 120 out of 170 managers and executives have quit since Kraft took control of the 200-year-old company in February after a bitterly fought £11.5billion takeover battle.

There have been departures among creative, design and marketing specialists – and even the creator of the award-winning drumming ‘gorilla’ advertisement has left.

While some resignations are normal after such a major deal, industry experts are shocked at the extent of the exodus.

In a further blow to Kraft’s reputation, it has been claimed in an email sent to the Unite union and seen by The Mail on Sunday that the company is considering using powdered Milka chocolate from Germany in some products, and reducing the size of the popular Dairy Milk bar.

Among the products that could be affected are Buttons, Creme Eggs, Milk Tray and Crunchie bars.

If the whistleblower’s fears are realised, dozens of workers could lose their jobs, particularly in Chirk near Wrexham and Marlbrook in Herefordshire, where Cadbury’s raw materials are currently processed.

Cadbury has strongly denied that such changes are being discussed.

Critics, however, point out that Kraft previously assured workers that, if its takeover was successful, it would reverse a decision to shut a factory near Bristol.

But just days after securing the deal, Kraft announced that the plant would close with the loss of 400 jobs.

The apparent U-turn led to Kraft being censured by regulators on the Takeover Panel.

Key staff who have left include Phil Rumbol, the marketing executive behind the drumming ‘gorilla’ advert; global brand director Lee Rolston; human resources director Andy Swarbrick; chief science and technology officer David Macnair; head of global corporate communications Dionne Parker; chief human resources officer Chris van Steenbergen; and Hank Udow, chief legal officer.

A former Cadbury executive said: ‘At the beginning there were a lot of tears at each leaving party, but now it is fun to meet up.

'There is a great network of former Cadbury people now – we call it the “purple alumni” network after the Cadbury colours.

‘It’s probably much harder for the people who have stayed behind: I tell them to think of it as being a completely different company to the one they used to work for.’

A Cadbury spokesman said last night: ‘The person who contacted you clearly has limited knowledge of Cadbury operations because the idea we would replace Cadbury milk chocolate recipe with Milka recipe is obviously nonsense.’

A reduction in product size, however, is considered a distinct possibility as it is a common way for confectioners to reduce costs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1297380/Exodus-Cadbury-fears-grow-march-Milka.html

outrageous!

[eefanincan]

Please don't change our Cream Eggs..... Sky and I would be devastated