Here’s a link especially for wildmouse:
Hershey to acquire Joseph Schmidt Confections Inc.
Oh dear. As Linnaeus said to me, if they’re smart they won’t tamper with J. Schmidt – that’s too good a thing to mess up! I’ll note that in the same article it’s mentioned that Hershey is also acquiring Scharffen-Berger. WTF? Are they out to destroy all good and tasty chocolate in the world?
And they bought Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp…
When I was a kid, we flew to Hawaii and toured their facilities. My father was so excited that he bought several cases of Macadamia nuts to take home with us… Cases… Each containing dozens and dozens of little glass gars filled with bulbous little Macadamia nuts… To this day I can’t eat them raw, and cringe every time I see those little glass jars at the store.
In a word: Yes. It’s the American way. Eliminate all variation and competition and then your sleazy product will reign supreme because there will be no other to choose. That’s the Microsoft approach too.
Never mind that you know real Mexican food has real cheese in it and not Velveeta, CheezWhiz or whatever that slop is that Taco Bell uses. Never mind that you know sugar is not a proper ingredient for hamburger patties, McDonald’s has decreed otherwise. Hershey’s is out to define chocolate in the same way.
I noticed that Borders has started to carry Joseph Schmidt chocolates. There was just something special about only being able to get the chocolates in certain places.Of course, the appeal of the chocolates is that Joseph personally oversees the design of each new chocolate and lovingly crafts it for our delight. I don’t see Joseph Schmidt on the Board of Hershey with his hand crafted chocolate bowls of fascination and the yummiest Eiffel Tower ever. Oh well, I still have Jacques Torres until M&M buys him out:)