British Cadbury bars are officially something you can only buy on vacation.
Those of us who got a taste for British chocolate on our trips to the U.K. have enjoyed the ability to re-live our travels through our taste buds by purchasing British-made Cadbury Dairy Milk, creme eggs, and other sweets across America, brought here by a specialized importer.
But the New York Times reports that Hershey's has fixed the game. It will no longer permit the importation of original Cadbury's bars—that is, the good ones. Now you have to buy the junky knockoff version with cheaper ingredients that it manufactures here in America. Whole Nut bars, Flake, Twirl, Whispa, Crunchie—all gone. Hershey's won't even allow Toffee Crisps to be imported because the wrapper looks too much like its peanut butter cups brand.
The company has a license to the Cadbury name in America, and when it churns them out it here, it changes the recipe. In England, the first ingredient is milk. Hersheys' version puts sugar first. As any traveler will tell you, it's just not the same.
A Hershey's flack gave the Times some legalistic song and dance about protecting trademark rights, not confusing consumers, the usual nonsense.
But the truth is that Hershey's knows that its chocolate is substandard when put against the richer, creamer, higher-cocoa content chocolates that are made abroad.
The next time you go to Europe, chocolate lovers, you'd better bring along an empty suitcase. Better yet, visit the Cadbury World tourist attraction in Birmingham, England.
