Chocolate Merger Madness
Kraft’s recent acquisition of Cadbury (which includes Green & Black’s) brings to mind other mergers that have occurred in recent history.
When I first began offering chocolate tasting programs in Berkeley, California in the early 1980’s, I fondly recall that there were still family members on the board of Ghirardelli Chocolate. Times have definitely changed. Today this historic American manufacturer it is owned by the Swiss chocolate maker Lindt.
After 40 years of ownership, the Campbell Soup Company sold Godiva Chocolates in December 2007 to the Turkish company Yildiz Holding of Turkey for $850 million. The Godiva managers I speak with in Portland seem very happy with this change of guard. It is as if they finally feel like they are being given the attention and resources they deserve by their parent company.
Nestlé’s owns Perugina, the chocolate company that originated in the Etruscan town of Perugia, Italy and is famous for their Baci confections.
Then there is Hershey that now owns the originally Berkeley, California based Scharffenberger Chocolates.
In the fall of 2006, I had the good fortune to attend a class at Draegers in San Mateo, California with Dr. Robert Steinberg, one of the co-founders of Scharffenberger Chocolates. Personally I remember the excitement of the emergence of Scharffenberger back in the mid-1990’s- what was at the time the first chocolate manufacturer in 50 years. Anyone who has ever gone on one of their factory tours might recall the tour guide proudly announcing that they make in one year what Hershey makes in a day. So, like many, I was very disappointed at the 2005 merger of this giant American manufacturer with this small American artisan one that helped bring chocolate to an entirely new level. A year later Hershey bought Ashland, Oregon based Dagoba.
I realize that loyal customers of companies can be upset by such changes. So at the end of class I asked Dr. Steinberg how he felt about it all. I can still recall his big smile and sparkling eyes, as he stated that he actually disliked all the marketing and the other business aspects of running the company. He was now free to do what he really loves- once again concentrating on the chocolate itself. Coming directly from him, those words made me feel somewhat better.
I somehow feel that he would have been disapppointed to see the eventual close of his Berkeley factory which would move to Illinois. It’s hard to imagine that those personally selected Old World pieces of chocolate machinery by himself and John Scharffenberger are still cranking out all that chocolate that is being marketed across the country. It is fortunate, perhaps, that this phase of the merger happened after Dr. Steinberg passed on in 2009.
Yes, there are positives and negatives to mergers. Yet, it bothers me how the “genealogy” of the chocolate industry seems to have far fewer branches in it these days. Let’s see how this all plays out in the coming years.
Who makes your favorite chocolate bars? How have you felt about these mergers?
Tags: chocolate companies