Now Cadburys sell out. Rant.

[Crankarm]

Given that Americans have the largest appetites in the world and Cadburys chocolit is stuffed full of sugar, isn't this a marriage made in heaven?

Didn't Cadburys European competitors gang up to try to prevent Cadbury labelling their choclit as chocolate? Didn't they get the Eurocrats involved? Now Cadburys have been consumed by the Americans the fattest nation in the world. Ooh the irony.

 

[chap]

I've always found Hershey choc. tastes more like sick than crap, but maybe that's just me.

No, me too, I thought the milk had gone off when I first had it. It was only an independent second sample which concluded the sad truth.

It's a bloody shame when our companies are sold up the wall like this. We can all harp on about patriotism, heritage, and British pride, although if the extent of ones patriotism is a few pennies more then it is all baseless, superficial nonsense.

Then again, the company had already gone up the arse-crack when they decided to deviate from its original way, so it is no surprise that it has now gone down the shi*ter.

I wonder how long Dairy Milk shall remain Fair Trade - anathema to the 'free'-market.

 

[Norm]

No, me too, I thought the milk had gone off when I first had it. It was only an independent second sample which concluded the sad truth.

It is a truth, but not a sad one, because it is made with soured milk.

But, stick to your ways and leave those who suck rather than bite to enjoy it.

 

[threefingerjoe]

If you are paying zillions for a brand you want the product. So cleary they will not be changing it. Would make no sense.

Actually, it's a frequent occurence, that a big company buys a competitor, just to put them out of business. They often quickly break up the new company, lay off the workers, and sell the assets.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Whether you like the chocolate or not I don't understand this casual attitude about other people losing their jobs.

 

[Crankarm]

Actually, it's a frequent occurence, that a big company buys a competitor, just to put them out of business. They often quickly break up the new company, lay off the workers, and sell the assets.

Yep, when Kraft took over Terrys in the 1990s it cut 2,500 jobs. When Nestle took over Rowntree 1988 there were 33,000 jobs there are now 3,000. Commitments to keep the factories open and the name Rowntree were dropped.

Mr Wonka would turn his his chocolate coffin.

The Cadbury Oompa Loompas should be very worried .

Todd Stitzer, the Cadbury chief executive, will receive about £20million, Roger Carr, the chairman, will make about £450,000 and Henry Udow, the chief legal officer, will take home close to £8million in cash and Kraft shares.

The Times.

Looks like a done deal except enter the Prince of Darkness Mandelson .....

 

[Over The Hill]

For every example of an overseas company buying a british one and laying off workers you will find as many examples of overseas companies coming along and saving the brand or investing in it.

Jaguar did well with huge investment from Ford to expand their range and survive creating many jobs in the UK.

Vauxhall has been owned by GM for a long long time and enjoyed decades of being a top 3 car maker in the UK.

There is an endless list from football clubs to supermarkets (asda).

If a company is selling well and making a profit it will be treasured by the buyer, if it is crap and was really only bought for the name then it will be stripped out.

Overall the days of UK manufacturing have gone so it really is only a matter of time before we lose all our factories. That is not down to Kraft or any other overseas buyer.

Why are you all treating the manufacture of chocolate differently to say cars, steel, ships, coal or any other process?

 

[Over The Hill]

Actually, it's a frequent occurence, that a big company buys a competitor, just to put them out of business. They often quickly break up the new company, lay off the workers, and sell the assets.

So what is the range of Kraft products that will take over from the Cadbury products on the shelves?

If you stop making a Cadbury product hoping that the buyer will switch to a Kraft product then you will lose a % of your market to say Nestle or whoever. That makes no sense. The Cadbury brand is what they wanted and the range of cadbury products that are selling well and recession proof.

The only question is if the UK jobs will go abroad. I accept they might but that is down to the factory to be run well and to overcome the disadvantage of being UK based (Subject to our employment laws etc). Clearly it is cheaper to make things abroad unless the UK plant can be run really well to overcome this.

Dont forget that a vast number of our factory jobs went abroad simply because the company could not get enough people to work in a factory for minimum wage.