Archives for the 'chocolates' tag
With Economy Worsening, Hershey’s Starts Selling Mockolate
Last week, our country faced major changes as a result of the worsening economy. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Bank of America purchased Merrill-Lynch. The Federal Reserve took over AIG in an $85 billion bailout. Even worse though, was Hershey’s decision to stop doing what they do best – manufacturing chocolate. Last Friday, TODAY reported that Hershey, in an effort to cut costs, swapped cocoa butter for vegetable oil in certain products (e.g. Whatchamacallit, Milk Duds, Mr. Goodbar, and Krackel):
“The removal of cocoa butter violates the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of milk chocolate, so subtle changes have appeared on the labels of the Hershey’s products with altered recipes. Products once labeled “milk chocolate” now say “chocolate candy,” “made with chocolate” or “chocolatey.”
Some say the label changes are too difficult to spot.
“A lot of people don’t notice it. The package looks exactly the same,” said Cybele May, who has chronicled the changes in detail on her Candy Blog. “I feel betrayed by Hershey’s. They’re giving me an inferior product and they’re not even telling me …”
Blind taste tests revealed that consumers also didn’t notice a difference in taste between the chocolate and the “mockolate.” So, I thought I would try it for myself. I went down to my trusty neighborhood convenience store and bought a Whatchamacallit – the package read, “rich chocolatey coating.” Honestly, I can’t taste the difference, but still – where are the antioxidants? And why doesn’t it melt in my mouth as smoothly? I feel betrayed too Cybele. At least Hersheys kept the cocoa in their Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Still, I think it’s time for a brand change – back to M&Ms and Snickers for me.
Chocolate Lawsuit Stinks Like Hershey Highway Robbery
Think you’re paying too much for a candy bar? Regional grocer Giant Eagle does, and they’re suing the manufacturers to put a stop to this chocolate chicanery.
Hershey Co., Mars Inc., Nestle SA and Cadbury Schweppes Plc are accused of fixing chocolate candy prices in the U.S. in a lawsuit filed by a Pittsburgh supermarket chain.
Giant Eagle Inc. claims in a suit filed March 26 that the companies and a Canadian wholesalers’ network, Itwal Inc., conspired to set artificially high prices for chocolates in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
The companies’ profits have fallen “because of increasing health concerns, and changing consumer preferences,” Giant Eagle claimed in its complaint, filed in federal court in Pittsburgh. “In the face of waning demand, defendants responded by instituting uniform parallel price increases” in the U.S. beginning in 2002, Giant Eagle claimed. (Ed.: emphasis mine)
Giant Eagle said in the complaint that it paid more than $200 million to buy chocolate bars, boxed chocolates and seasonal chocolate candy from the companies since 2002, at illegally inflated prices. Giant Eagle seeks unspecified damages, which may be tripled under antitrust law if the claim is successful.
More here. Suit here (PDF). The U.S. Dept. of Justice is also probing alleged price fixing by chocolate makers.
My 2 cents? Giant Eagle is full of crap. By noting chocolate bars’ “health concerns” and “waning demand,” the suit does nothing but tarnish the very products Giant Eagle sells. Sour grapes, if you ask me.
If the candy costs you too much, is unhealthy, and doesn’t sell very well, why the hell are you selling it, Giant Eagle? As for the U.S. government, the idea that there is such a thing as chocolate price fixing, and that this is something government attorneys would need to concern themselves with, shows just how big Big Brother really is.
Easter Treat: Ferrero Rondnoir
In case you’ve reached the age where the Easter Bunny no longer leaves special little treats around your home this time of year — or the Purim Bunny just never seems to show up — I recommend you try the the newish Ferrero Rondnoir this weekend.
A Ferrero rep sent me some, which she’d described in an email as “new dark chocolates that feature a dark chocolate cream surrounding a crisp wafer and topped with crunchy dark chocolate morsels.”
Since I’m a firm believer in there being no such thing as too much dark chocolate, I was happy to give them a whirl. (I’m happy to try pretty much any food someone’s willing to send me, though maybe not anything with chreese in it.)
The Rondnoir has a lot going on, but not too much. It’s definitely crispy on the outside — crunchy, even, thanks to the coating of the outer chocolate bits — and when you bite into it the three levels of cocoa-rich dark chocolate, each with a different consistency, play nicely off one another.
Candyblog has more — including the sad revelation that the Rondnoir contains no trans fats.
Find the Rondnoir seller nearest you here. Or just pick up a bunch from Amazon.
