London, England (GenevaLunch) - The British newspaper The Guardian reports that Kraft is planning to transfer some of its operations to a Zurich-based holding company in a move that could cost the British government up to £200 million in lost tax revenues. Kraft took control of the British chocolate maker Cadbury in 2010 after a £11bn hostile takeover that was partially financed by a loan from RBS, a bank that is 85 percent owned by the British government. The takeover met strong opposition in the UK, partly because of Cadbury’s history as a socially aware employer. In the nineteenth century George Cadbury created the model village of Bournville as housing for workers. The village had no pubs, in keeping with his Quaker beliefs. The firm merged with Schweppes in 1969 but split in 2008.
Kraft already operates a part of its business using a Swiss base. There were no details in the British weekend media articles on the likely impact on employment.
Links to other sites: The Guardian, The Daily Mail
Barry Callebaut and Kraft are stepping out together (A green shoe of pure chocolate from the 2009 Paris Chocolate Salon. E Wallace)
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss company Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest supplier of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, has signed a long-term agreement with USA-based Kraft Foods to become the American company’s global cocoa and industrial chocolate supplier.
Kraft is the world’s second-largest food company after Nestle, which is based in Vevey, Switzerland. The agreement, which includes some of the Cadbury liquid chocolate deliveries under a current Kraft outsourcing agreement, is expected to more than double Barry Callebaut’s existing business with Kraft Foods.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The ongoing guessing game about who will own Cadbury is expected to end Wednesday 6 January when Kraft unveils shareholder response to its hostile takeover bid for Cadbury, but Nestlé won’t be one of the owners. The Swiss-based Nestlé says it is not bidding on Cadbury, ending speculation that it would fight Kraft for the UK-based Cadbury sweets company. Nestlé has instead offered to buy Kraft’s pizza division, the leader in the US and Canada in the frozen pizza market.
Nestlé’s $3.7 billion offer for the pizza business is allowing Kraft to increase its cash offer for Cadbury.
The pizza deal covers a number of brands, including DiGiorno, Tombstone, California Pizza Kitchen, Jack’s and Delissio.
Ghana: local chief holds out cocoa used in Cadbury chocolate (photo: Cadbury)
Geneva/Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – US-based Kraft Foods went public with an offer for Cadbury, UK confectioner, after the British company refused its proposal. Kraft is offering £10.2 billion for Cadbury, which formally turned down the proposal Monday 7 September, noting in a statement that “the board is confident in Cadbury’s standalone strategy and growth prospects as a result of its strong brands, unique category and geographic scope and the continued successful delivery of its ‘Vision into Action’ plan. The board believes that the proposal fundamentally undervalues the group and its prospects.” Shares in the company rose strongly Monday.
Updated 10 April 13:10 London, England and Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Mars has become the latest chocolate maker to go green with its products, making a commitment ” to spend tens of millions of dollars annually certifying that the cocoa used in the $10bn of chocolate products it sells every year is sustainably sourced by 2020,” reports the Financial Times. Mars claims to be the world’s largest end-user of chocolate. The company joins Cadbury (whose European head office is in Rolle, Vaud, Switzerland), the largest chewing gum and sweets maker in the world, which has a significant chocolate business. Cadbury announced in March that it would increase direct Fair Trade buying from farmers, spending £45 million in the next 10 years to “to secure the sustainable socio-economic future of cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean where the cocoa farming industry is facing increasing challenges.”
