We have Disney World adventures and pics to share later, but a news story today caught my attention. It’s not too disheartening when I read of Warren Buffett working his business acumen. (I thought he could have come in and help save the newspaper world but it seems he never wanted to delve into the news-gathering industry.) Buffett has a financial share in Kraft Foods, which is fine, I’ve got no troubles with Kraft, which includes A1 Steaksauce to Zwieback toasted crackers for our youngest munchers. (A Zwieback with a sprinkling of cinnamon is sounding really good right now, too.) Check out the huge index of foods here.
But Kraft has turned it’s attention on an English tradition — a chocolate tradition. Cadbury chocolate to be precise, which is to the English what Hershey’s is to Americans. (Though Cadbury chocolate is WAY better!) I don’t believe that nonsense about British and there bland food. I had pure liquid chocolate gold when I visited Cadbury World in Birmingham, England, in 2003. (We were there on our 5th anniversary and had a day not unlike young Charlie in Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Check out their Cadbury World Experience here. There was a small roller-coaster ride for heaven’s sakes! And did I mention the small (too small) plastic cup of warm, liquid chocolate?
I’d learned about the plant from this great book called “Once Upon a Time in Great Britain, A Travel Guide to the Sights and Settings of Your Favorite Children’s Stories” by Melanie Wentz. It also has great ideas for following Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh sites, too.
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It was a rather fun way to spend a day in merry ol’ England. (We’d driven up — Joe driving on the right side of the road up from Stratford upon Avon in a tiny car we’d rented in Oxford, after getting off the train from Waterloo Station in London and taking a bus to the northern reaches of Oxford where we finally spotted the tiny yellow Hertz sign in a large car dealership.) We bought a bunch of chocolate bars for the rest of our stay in England, naturally.
So I’m always happy to see a regal purple wrapped bar of delicious chocolate with the Cadbury name. But does Kraft’s new association mean plastic chocolate?
Here is what a Reuters story reports: Felicity Loudon, a fourth generation member of Cadbury’s founding family was appalled that the iconic chocolate maker looked destined to fall to Kraft, and believes that jobs will be lost and that Cadbury chocolate will never taste the same.
“I’m horrified, we shouldn’t give up. I just think there’s a cultural imbalance. For a quintessentially, philanthropic iconic brand to sell out to a plastic cheese company - there’s no mix there,” she told Reuters.
And other villagers were weary back in September, according to this Bloomberg.com story. I think Felicity has a point. The news story I read used the word “synergy” which always seems to mean layoffs, right? Plus the Cadbury family always strived to care for their workers, setting up a village for the workers near the factory eons ago. It’s an old red-brick building where the chocolate is crafted, but that seems to be part of the charm. I’d be so upset if they stopped the chocolate tours. I want my daughters to see and experience the chocolate factory. But maybe I need to blame Ronald Dahl for making us want to see chocolate factories in the first place.
