AN ENGLISH “INSTITUTION” BECOMES A DEBT RIDDEN SUBSIDIARY OVERNIGHT
Even in Great Britain, a country which has had culture snatched from it by indiscriminate immigration and being a member of the EU, is up in arms over losing Cadbury’s a 200 year-old Birmingham-based “institution” majority-owned and run until recently by the Quaker Cadbury, to plastic cheese maker Kraft Foods. Kraft, thanks to Wall Street is 100% funding the nearly $20 billion purchase. Cadbury’s CEO, American Todd Stitzer, since he engineered one of the worst takeover deals in history the acquisition of Snapple drinks, has been hell-bent on sinking the once proud British company, very much like the American Glazer family are presently doing to Manchester United.
Kraft is half the size of Cadbury’s and who is buying who? It makes no sense whatsoever. Over the last few years with the new Stitzer leadership, Cadbury’s has gone from being a British-based confectionery manufacturer, where their original and main plant in Bournville (their own village outside of Birmingham) employing 30,000 plus just thirty years ago to where it is now less than 2,500. Of the worldwide workforce of 45,000 only 6,000 are in England. Cadbury’s confectionery was renowned for its hearty content. Real sugar and cocoa butter was used exclusively in their chocolates for nearly two centuries. In the quest to reduce costs, plants all over England have been closed down under Stitzer and third world countries like Poland and Thailand have benefited from the change. Palm oil, a cheap alternative to cocoa is now the major ingredient in a Cadbury’s chocolate bar.
Quite frankly the fit is now perfect for Wall Street; Kraft with synthetic cheese and other junk food and Cadbury with its phony chocolate and a merged company laden with huge debt. What was wrong with Cadbury’s as it used to be? It had a global reputation for excellence, it had nearly two centuries of tradition and while many of its factories were built in the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of English families benefited from a family business which was a model for top corporate governance. As a kid arriving home from school in those bleak New Zealand winters, I remember well being greeted by mom for years with a cup of hot Cadbury’s Bournville cocoa made with milk and two slices of marmalade toast.
So what do we have to look forward to? No doubt, “re-engineering” to reduce costs will quickly take place. The remaining Cadbury factories will probably be shut down around the world except Asia and China will be the biggest beneficiary. We will be able to look forward to candy full of anti-freeze for flavor, melamine to give us the false protein reading, and contaminated local Chinese milk powder to make us puke! The thought of the “new” Kraft makes me want puke without trying their new range of products!
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Giles
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