Goodbye Cadbury

[Gerry Melon]

Good thinkin Cookie.

BUY LOTS OF KRAFT NOW!!!!

Who doesn't love a dairylea lunchable or some creamy philadelphia.

I may get a pay rise then too.

 

[Gramaisc]

I think there's an supermarket own-brand choc orange,

Tesco seem to do a substitute, but it appears to be self-assembly.

 

[cookie_monster]

Good thinkin Cookie.

BUY LOTS OF KRAFT NOW!!!!

Who doesn't love a dairylea lunchable or some creamy philadelphia.

I may get a pay rise then too.

lol, i wouldnt go that far! but i am a fan of philly.

we in the office are wondering what will happen to the trebor-bassett factory at hillsborough, theres 700 people employed there and an amazing factory shop too...which supplies our department tuck shop!


x

 

[Mr X]

I think there's an supermarket own-brand choc orange,

Tesco seem to do a substitute, but it appears to be self-assembly.

Half the fun of a Terry's chocolate orange is smashing it on the table/floor/wall/enemy's head. If it comes already broken up then there's no point in it and you might as well buy a bar of orange-flavoured chocolate.

Tesco Orange Flavoured Milk Chocolate Segments = FAILURE

 

[MISS T]

You have all said it for me. I can't boycott the chocolate orange, I can't even try, I will fail.

 

[Francis]

Was the Cadbury group in such bad shape financially that they could be snapped up by Kraft?

Life wouldn't be the same without my Cadbury with the crunch and the caramel for my son.

~Francis

 

[Mr X]

Was the Cadbury group in such bad shape financially that they could be snapped up by Kraft?

That is exactly what I would like to know. I haven't done any research, but the way I understand the story (correct me if I'm wrong), Cadbury were happily doing business when out of the blue Kraft made a really low offer and were told to go away. Hershey's then made a moderately better offer and were told to go away. Kraft made a better offer and it's been accepted, despite the fact that no-one seemed to want a take-over of the company. After the first offer I seem to recall someone high up in Cadbury saying they had no plans to sell. I'm quite shocked about Cadbury selling to a company who clearly does not care about the company or its workers, but simply wants to make money (the exact opposite of what the founders who cared very much about their workers and customers). Maybe if I did some research I wouldn't be so confused about it all but I simply don't understand the reasons behind selling!

Oh, BTW I found an ASDA chocolate orange that someone was given for Christmas. It appears to be self-assembly like the Tesco variety and looks like it has exactly the same photo on the front. I can't give any information on the taste, but my have to do a little investigation work tomorrow...

 

[Gramaisc]

It's the shareholders who will decide whether to sell or not. And Kraft have done this on the strength of money loaned to them by RBS - i.e., taxpayers money....

 

[Mr X]

Just read this and it made me laugh, but it is true!

"Kraft are cheesemakers. What the hell do they know about chocolate?... Be afraid, be very afraid," wrote Tom on Facebook.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/01/19/kraft.cadbury.chocolate.taste/index.html

 

[db]

if we boycott cadburys chocolate though, wont we be forcing a downturn in their business and putting the kybosh on the company even quicker than kraft would? who does that help?

that's exactly what i came here to say.. i notice the usual "i'll campaign about anything" suspects are all over this on facebook lol..

arbitrarily campaigning against it even though nothing has changed (as far as consumers are concerned) is going to help no-one.. cadbury's is a well established brand, and i'm sure kraft know how insular and xenophobic brits are, they stand to gain absolutely nothing by changing the brand/product formulas/etc..

if they start changing shit, or moving jobs stateside, or whatev's, then fair enough, boycott to your heart's content, but just jumping on some bandwagon now will only harm the UK operation..

 

[cookie_monster]

if they start changing shit, or moving jobs stateside, or whatev's, then fair enough, boycott to your heart's content, but just jumping on some bandwagon now will only harm the UK operation..

agreed.

to do anything prematurely is to force krafts hand and nobody will benefit...oh, except the cadburys shareholders, but they have cashed their cheques and sold their shares well before that point!


x

 

[basil]

Mmm galaxy for me even though it's another US brand, and agreed if cadbury is boycotted then bournville will close sooner...........

 

[Sofa]

Kraft's debt almost tripled to $18.54 billion in the two years between 2006 and 2008. Kraft has sacked 60,000 workers to pay for its profits in the last 10 years.

So, that's ok then?

Once again, the City and bankers are supporting big business, with no regard for the thousands of workers whose livelihoods will now be put at risk. Kraft is a giant company - with giant debt and a record of under-performance, while Cadbury's independence has enabled it to make world-beating confectionery.

 

[basil]

Simple, ....take out(us) the opposition.........

 

[db]

Once again, the City and bankers are supporting big business, with no regard for the thousands of workers whose livelihoods will now be put at risk. Kraft is a giant company - with giant debt and a record of under-performance, while Cadbury's independence has enabled it to make world-beating confectionery.

so you would rather make a futile point about your hatred for capitalism rather than support british workers? nice..

none of us are happy that cadbury have been usurped, but in case you hadn't noticed they still employ thousands in this country.. kraft haven't declared their intentions yet, nefarious or otherwise, and until they do the sensible thing would be to demonstrate to them that there is a market for them in the UK..

 

[tek-monkey]

Gotta agree. Support them while they employ british people, but ditch them if they cut UK jobs. Otherwise you are having people fired simply because of who their bosses are.

EDIT: Not that I agree with the takeover, I wish it'd stayed a british firm, but thats pretty much irrelevant. The shareholders want to sell so they sell, thats just how it works. If you don't like it, don't have shareholders!

 

[Gramaisc]

The fact that they have a market in the UK does not mean that they will keep the jobs in the UK. There is a market for chocolate oranges, apparently, and the jobs are now in Poland, not York.

 

[basil]

The implications are now widening, so no manufacturing capability! but an almost avarice for chocolate orange and whatever else is sold to us. Yet we are currently attracting large numbers of migrant/seasonal/skilled/educated/professional workers. seems the locals just dunna get it.....

 

[BBC]

Not much point boycotting Cadbury now at the expense of 4000 British workers. We live in a democractic country that promotes free trade. If a foreign company wants to buy a successful British company and the shareholders agree to it there isn't much you and I can do about it!

British companies were sold to foreign investors in the past because they were badly run by their British managers and had no British investment!

Alot of British companies now also buy up foreign companies (see Tesco) but when a British company is successful on a global scale it is usually derided (see Tesco)!

 

[Withnail]

From latest Private Eye, and posted hoping that people buy it rather than not having to;

'For all the ministerial hand wringing, why is the government so impotent in the face of the Cadbury takeover?
Largely because one of business secretary Lord Mandelson's predeccessors, Patricia Hewitt, put through legislation laughably called the enterprise act in 2002. This removed any public interest test from the process of approving mergers beyond whether competition would be affected (except where national security or the media are involved) and prevented the trade secretary from intervening as he or she previously could.
The efect is that, for all his pledges to restore British industry, Mandelson is reduced to pleading with the American processed cheese maker to leave a few chocolatey crumbs in the country.'