The sad tale of Cadbury's (continued)...

You could have predicted it. The huffing and puffing about 'contempt of parliament' by the business select committee whose invitation to appear has been turned down yet again by Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive of Kraft.

Now there's a real risk that Kraft will transfer more of Cadbury's marketing and brand management to Zurich, Switzerland. Isn't that the home of Nestle?

See my previous post on this from March 2011

Kraft and Cadbury - one year on

Radio 4 have just run a programme one year on from Kraft's takeover of Cadbury.

It happened so quickly, apparently, because, by the time of the sale, only 28% of Cadbury shares were held in long term UK funds. 31% were in non-UK hedge funds.

It's interesting to read Elizabeth Fournier's piece in City A.M., about new proposals announced on Monday by the UK Takeover Panel, which oblige companies to work to stricter timetables and increase disclosure.

Apparently, under the new rules, Kraft would have been disciplined for failing to fulfil statements made during the bid, and the Somerbury factory and 400 jobs would have been saved.

It appears that Bournville is now becoming Kraft's global innovation centre/centre for chocolate! Let's hope that keeps the remaining 5,500 UK Cadbury/Kraft workers in employment.

Kraft versus Cadbury

The repercussions of the takeover by Kraft of Cadbury continue. Organic chocolate maker Green & Black's was rumoured, last week, in the FT, to be looking for ways to extricate itself from Kraft. The firm's management is said to be struggling to retain an entrepreneurial spirit under the new regime.

Having worked on both Kraft and Cadbury business in my time in client service in agencies, I can understand where they are coming from. The 'impulse', 'fun', 'celebration' and 'indulgence' chocolate brands for which Cadbury is famous breed a fundamentally different culture from the pragmatic cupboard and kitchen staples for which Kraft is best known.