Last month, Hershey’s and Cadbury got into a candy war of sorts that resulted in America’s banning of imported British-made chocolates. Whether you’ve got a sweet tooth or not, the whole thing’s been a messy situation to say the least:
Hershey manufactures Cadbury products for the United States to a different recipe. The company complained that British-made favourites such as Cadbury Creme Eggs, Maltesers, Kit Kat and Yorkie bars either infringe the company’s US licences or “confuse” customers with similar wrappings and names.
The lawsuits mean that two major importers of British sweets have agreed no longer to bring in the British products.
However, Brits in the States have complained that they don’t like the taste of American chocolate and have reacted with fury – an online petition protesting the move has gained more than 33,000 signatures.
Unsurprisingly, in addition to angering chocolate lovers, the ban has led many to “panic-buy” their favorite treats, fearing they’ll soon vanish from store shelves.
According to David Kidd, a Briton from Stoke on Trent who runs the You Say Tomato import store in the city [of San Francisco], “People have definitely been buying a lot more Cadbury’s products.
“I’m looking at an empty box on my shelf – someone came in yesterday and bought the whole box of Dairy Milk.
And instead of buying a couple of Flakes someone this week came in and bought a whole box of 24 Flakes.”
Now, of course, there are British entrepreneurs who are making quite the pretty penny off this whole candy fiasco. These businesses purchase in-demand, UK-made chocolates in bulk at wholesale prices, then ship them to the US per customers’ specific orders.
According to the BBC, because the sweets are being packaged and sold as “gift boxes”, they aren’t subject to the ban. In the weeks since the import restrictions were put into place, these small exporting companies have seen their orders increase substantially, a trend that’s likely to continue unless Hershey and Cadbury reach a better deal.
Below, watch BBC’s short report on these flourishing entrepreneurs.
[Via BBC and The Telegraph]