The Hershey Chocolate Company has banned the import of Cadbury chocolates from Britain for sale in the United States.
Done screaming yet?
Hershey announced last week that it had secured full distribution rights for Cadbury chocolate in the United States, and had banned the major importer of British-made Cadbury chocolate, Let’s Buy British Goods, from importing all Cadbury products for sale in the US.
This ban includes Dairy Milk bars, Cadbury Creme Eggs, the Nestlè Kit-Kat and Yorkie bars, but also covers a larger variety of British chocolates produced by the Nestlè, Kraft, and Cadbury companies.
Photo by Jared Sebby
Although the Hershey Company will be distributing several of these chocolates in the United States, the recipes will be different. The differences are evident today. Prior to 2006, the recipes used by Cadbury in Britain and Hershey in the United States were the same, but after a large marketing campaign that began in 2007, the American egg became smaller and the recipe changed to more closely resemble that of the Hershey’s chocolate bar.
This agreement also changes the recipe of the Cadbury egg produced by the Cadbury company in Britain, which is under the Nestlè branch of the Mondelēz International conglomerate. The new egg is produced with “standard cocoa mix chocolate” instead of the Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate that was used previously.
The Hershey Company claims that the ban is due to a copyright infringement on various Hershey products, stating that products like Toffee Crisps, which use yellow-lined brown text on their packaging, infringe on the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups brand. Additionally, they claim Yorkie Bars, a solid bar of milk chocolate more closely resembling Toblerone, infringe on the York Peppermint Patty.
Photo by Jared Sebby
All is not lost, however. Even though Hershey has succeeded at making Cadbury chocolate worse than Kraft, plenty of smaller international brands are gradually making their way into the US. Ritter Sport, Lindt, and Milka all sell higher-quality chocolate and can be found at your local supermarket.
You can also still purchase British Cadbury chocolates on Amazon, although it isn’t known how long Hershey will allow that. You can also find some fantastic American brands, like Ghirardelli and Godiva, although these are typically more expensive than a Hershey’s bar.
Of course, you could always give some of these recipes a try, if you’re looking for a chocolate fix.
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffles
Two Ingredient Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Bakery Style Chocolate Brownie Cookies