SEVEN DAYS WITHOUT CHOCOLATE MAKES ONE WEAK

Almost everyone you know probably likes chocolate. If they don’t, then they have at least tried it. It seems as if chocolate has been around forever, and one name that has always been synonymous with chocolate is Hershey. Another brand that has been in the United States for years, but not is not as well known is Cadbury chocolate. For over 30 years, importers of British goods have brought English Cadbury chocolate into the United States. In the past month, Hershey has reached a settlement with a British importer that would stop the importation of all Cadbury outside the United States. So why is Hershey doing this? Hershey, who has a licensing agreement with Cadbury UK to make and sell Cadbury chocolate bars in the United States, claims that they are trying to “protect its trademark rights” and “prevent consumers from being confused or misled when they see a product name or product package that is confusingly similar to a Hershey name or trade dress." Hershey’s Senior Director of Product Development, Jim St. John, told CBS News that recipes of British and American Cadbury are almost identical. CBS News explains that “Hershey has owned the rights to make Cadbury in the U.S. for nearly 30 years, and has largely ignored specialty shops selling the British version,” although its attitude changed once it noticed that “those stores were taking an increasing bite of the company’s $7 billion business.” Cadbury made in the United States is different from its British counterpart because unlike the British Cadbury, Hershey uses a different recipe wherein sugar is used instead of milk. Stores in the United States that sell the British Cadbury are worried that the loss in revenue will cause specialty shops that sell the chocolate to close. As a result, angry chocolate lovers have decided to boycott Hershey and have signed petitions to support importers of the chocolate. Moving forward, if Cadbury chocolate lovers want the real deal, they will have to go to other outlets, such as Amazon, but the prices will inevitably be higher.

By: Mike Littlejohn –Casenote Editor

Photo Credit: scsmith4 via photopin cc

Sources used:

http://iplj.net/blog/

http://bgr.com/2015/02/17/hershey-vs-cadbury-lawsuit/