Perhaps I should stop eating Cadbury's chocolate

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've noticed that at least one variety of Green & Black's has an "EU Certification" number and address which is Polish, so probably they have transferred production of those to Poland as well. Shame they don't sell them over there though.

[pumpkin]

Aldi do excellent chocolate. Really, Cadburys etc have nothing in common with the proper chocolate that is produced abroad and actually has a high amount of cocoa solids in it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Funnily enough I popped into an Aldi yesterday and bought a bar of chocolate. Something apparently Belgian, it was ok, not wonderful but better than Cadbury's, I agree. In fact I've got some left, I must have a bit now! But mainly I popped in to see if Aldi had any of their famed bike-thing sales - nothing. The whole shop reminded me very much of Lidl in Poland and not at all of Polish Aldik, which is much more upmarket.

[Salvatore]

If anyone is undecided whether to boycott Nestlé, this should swing the balance. It's just wrong.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What on earth is that? Does it taste of chocolate or kit kat in any way? I see the packaging is in Chinese and French as well as English - is it some weird Chinese speciality?

[Adam]

And Kraft aren't being very forthcoming to the House of Commons Select Committee about their future plans, with their Chief Executive not bothering to turn up.

[Cudzoziemiec]

This week I took advantage of the 2 for Ł2 (or maybe it was Ł2.50 actually) offer on Lindt in Sainsbury's. Probably find out it belongs to Kraft too, but at least it tastes decent!

[barakta]

If anyone is undecided whether to boycott Nestlé, this should swing the balance. It's just wrong.

A friend bought some to a party but I'm no masaochistic enough to try them - YUCK!  Some people liked them, but most people agreed they were MADE OF WRONG!

[Cudzoziemiec]

I gugolisationed it and found this blog about Japanese Kit Kats, which seem to be a bizarre obsession.

[geraldc]

My brother is slightly OCD about special edition KitKats

KitKat Photo Gallery by Matthew Chong at pbase.com

They do look quite nice

[pcolbeck]

Bloomin heck and we only get plain, orange or mint special editions. I fancy the brandy and orange one but am not convinced about the red bean or sea salt ones.

[hellymedic]

Bloomin heck and we only get plain, orange or mint special editions. I fancy the brandy and orange one but am not convinced about the red bean or sea salt ones.

I'm sure I bought a lime-flavoured white chocolate Kit-Kat in Outer London a while back.
It was this. 

You are not deprived if you miss such treats, honestly.

[clarion]

They're still Nestle.  Leaves a nasty taste...

[pcolbeck]

They're still Nestle.  Leaves a nasty taste...

I'm conflicted. Members of my family have worked there for years (my Gran was a shop steward) and I have friends who work there too. What Nestle have done to Rowntree is bad enough that I feel bad boycotting their chocolate as I feel it's further endangering my friends and family's jobs. I do boycott Nestle coffee though and their other products not made in York.

[clarion]

Fair enough.  I was in York just after the takeover, and it was grim times.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Stapleton Road station in the Easton area of Bristol has a mural depicting various aspects of the district's history, including something about a strike in a chocolate factory concerning unionisation in the early 20th century. And if you stand on the northbound platform you can see the name of another chocolate manufacturer painted in faded letters on the roof of an old factory or warehouse. I can't remember either name - must remember to check when I'm there tomorrow - but it's surprising how many small confectionery firms there used to be. I don't know whether they were common across the country or whether, as I suspect, they were concentrated in a few places such as York and Bristol.

[clarion]

Packers & Fry's?

The largest chocolate manufacturers in the country were all Quakers: Cadburys in Bournville, Rowntrees & Terrys in York, and Frys in Bristol.

EDIT: I can't, on a swift search of the web, find any mention of Joseph Terry being a Quaker, so I might be wrong about that.

Sadly, Rowntrees (along with Halifax firm Mackintosh) are now owned by Nestle, and Cadbury's (with their subsidiary brands Fry's, Maynards, Bassetts etc) and Terry's are owned by Kraft.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I forgot to look this morning.   But Packers is the one I can see painted on the roof. I'll have to check the other one this afternoon - I would have remembered if it was Fry's! I think they were actually out in Keynesham rather than Bristol itself. And I'll google Elizabeth Shaw right now to see if she was a Quaker too.

Edit: The Elizabeth Shaw site is blocked by my incredibly stupid vodafone content control thing.  But it seems the woman herself came from Teddington. No idea if she was a Quaker though.

[clarion]

There wasn't an Elizabeth Shaw, it seems.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Wasn't there? The preview that google gives showed the elizabeth shaw website as saying something about her living in Teddington. Hard to be sure from just half a sentence, admittedly. Assuming you have a more sensible interwobbles connection than me, you could look at Elizabeth Shaw – Creators of Fine Chocolates and see what it actually says. If you want to.

[clarion]

Pre 1937 The Smith family made what even by today’s standards would be a major move and decided to relocate from Somerset to Teddington in Middlesex. We believe this was in the search for work. The Smiths soon settled into their new surroundings and it wasn’t long before Elizabeth caught the eye of Patrick, by then a worker at a local confectionery company, Page & Shaw. The couple were later married and started their lives together in Teddington.
1937 During their marriage they did however fall on hard times, and were forced to move in with one of Elizabeth’s sisters and her husband - Mr and Mrs Bellchamber. Elizabeth had always enjoyed cooking for the family, especially making treats such as chocolates. One of her favourites was a chocolate made from honeycomb crisp which was mint flavoured, developed from a recipe an American friend had given to her. In 1937, keen to help both herself and her husband pay their way, Elizabeth started to produce Mint Crisps and Langes de Chat on her sister’s stove to sell in her brother-in-law’s local shop, Bellchamber’s.

The venture was a great success and soon Patrick and Elizabeth had to create a name for these delicious chocolates. After some thought, they decided to combine Elizabeth’s first name with the name Shaw, from the name Page & Shaw, Patrick’s former employer. The combination of names was felt to be very pleasing to the ear and thus started the household name of Elizabeth Shaw.

[pcolbeck]

Packers & Fry's?

The largest chocolate manufacturers in the country were all Quakers: Cadburys in Bournville, Rowntrees & Terrys in York, and Frys in Bristol.
EDIT: I can't, on a swift search of the web, find any mention of Joseph Terry being a Quaker, so I might be wrong about that.

Don't think he was a Quaker. Terrys didn't go in for the typical Quaker philanthropy[y of Rowntree and Cadburies anyway. No model villages and such like.

[clarion]

Neither did Barclays, but they were Quakers, too...

[Cudzoziemiec]

The other company I mentioned above was Sanders. I don't know anything about them except that this was apparently an early example a female workforce organising into a union and going on strike.

Pre 1937 The Smith family made what even by today’s standards would be a major move and decided to relocate from Somerset to Teddington in Middlesex. We believe this was in the search for work. The Smiths soon settled into their new surroundings and it wasn’t long before Elizabeth caught the eye of Patrick, by then a worker at a local confectionery company, Page & Shaw. The couple were later married and started their lives together in Teddington.
1937 During their marriage they did however fall on hard times, and were forced to move in with one of Elizabeth’s sisters and her husband - Mr and Mrs Bellchamber. Elizabeth had always enjoyed cooking for the family, especially making treats such as chocolates. One of her favourites was a chocolate made from honeycomb crisp which was mint flavoured, developed from a recipe an American friend had given to her. In 1937, keen to help both herself and her husband pay their way, Elizabeth started to produce Mint Crisps and Langes de Chat on her sister’s stove to sell in her brother-in-law’s local shop, Bellchamber’s.

The venture was a great success and soon Patrick and Elizabeth had to create a name for these delicious chocolates. After some thought, they decided to combine Elizabeth’s first name with the name Shaw, from the name Page & Shaw, Patrick’s former employer. The combination of names was felt to be very pleasing to the ear and thus started the household name of Elizabeth Shaw.

Thanks.

Was it very, very wrong of me to giggle a little at the name Bellchamber?

Neither did Barclays, but they were Quakers, too...

That I never knew, and find slightly shocking. Then again I'm thinking of the modern Barclays, they may have been rather different when they started up and I can see how you could have a bank run along quakerish lines, encouraging prudential savings etc.

[robbo6]

The professions such as medicine and law were barred to Quakers (and other non-conformists) from the late 17th century, so they had to find other ways to make their fortune, their belief in honesty gave them a good reputation as bankers. They also started a huge number of other firms, such as the Stockton and Darlington Railway paid for by the Peases, the iron works at Coalbrookdale were run by the Darbys, also quakers.