Our nephew’s wife always takes Cadbury’s chocolate as a gift for her sister when she goes home to Argentina.
She took some over with her in July and her sister said the chocolate wasn’t nearly as good as she remembered.
When our niece-in-law returned to New Zealand she found out that Cadbury had changed its recipe and was using palm oil in place of cocoa butter.
Her sister wasn’t the only one to notice a drop in quality as a result.
Chocolate lovers the length and breadth of the country revolted. Such was the backlash the company admitted it had got it wrong and decided to quit the palm oil and go back to cocoa butter.
I blogged on the change to palm oil, the boost it gave to Whittakers and the decision to go back to cocoa butter.
Someone from Cadbury must have noticed because last week I got an email from the company asking for my postal address and on Friday a package with five blocks of palm oil-free chocolate arrived in the mail.
With it was a letter which said:
We know we got it wrong when we started putting palm oil in Cadbury Dairy Milk and we’d love your help in spreading the word that cocoa butter is back!
It’s part of Cadbury’s campaign to promote the return to the cocoa-butter only recipe about which you can read more at www.choclovers.co.nz
I can spot a blatant attempt to chocolate curry favour when it turns up in my mail box.
I know they’re just sweet talking me as a marketing ploy to get me to spread the word.
But I can resist (almost) anything but chocolate.
We have power! Take the bribe. Do the promotion. It’s in the name of chocolate. mmmmmm. I might have to drive to the store now. Or maybe I should walk so I can eat more cocoa butter Cadbury’s chocolate without feeling guilty!!!
That’s why I get little disappointed with us – bloggers and online content producers – we want companies to listen to us, to participate and engage, and when they do we get back and say – this is a marketing plot!
I wish I had received some free chocolate.
Hey Cadbury if you are reading this, how about some sample for me?
Michael
Cadbury didn’t just change the recipe, the company also cut the size of its bars – a price rise by stealth and shifted production from Dunedin to somewhere in Australia – which I suspect also meant a change in the recipe.
Either way, the chocolate didn’t taste as good anymore. Our family shifted to buying Whitakers – which was and remains clearly superior. I’m in no hurry to go back – I suspect Cadbury is only mounting its current charm offensive because the company’s market share and profits are down.
BB, Similar thoughts here. Cadbury has done its dash on the hidden price hike and the recipe change. Too late Cadbury, if there is a Whittakers product, that’s the one for us. We’d sooner support NZ made, after all there is so few of them these days.
HP please tell Cadburys that I am not too proud to accept their chocolate: Post to
pdm, 189 Hollydale Road, Nunhead SE15 2TG, London, England – should get to me.
Hmmm, I could not recommend bribery and corruption to anyone….but it’s always worked for me.