Our Favorites Chocolates are… Banned?
February 20, 2015
Cadbury Dairy Milk, Yorkies, Toffee Crisps and KitKats. Some of these names may sound familiar or even be your favorite chocolate bars. What is heartbreaking is that they will no longer be available in your local stores.
Hershey’s filed a trademark infringement suit against LBB (Let’s Buy British Imports), the ones who make Cadbury chocolates overseas, in January. According to the suit, LBB will no longer be allowed to bring Cadbury Créme Eggs, Maltesers, Yorkie chocolate bars, Toffee Crisps, and KitKats that are made overseas in Britain.
America will not be able to get their hands on British-made chocolates but they will still be sold with the Hershey’s altered recipe. Hershey’s uses sugar as the main ingredient while the UK uses milk. The reason why many people choose Cadbury over Hershey’s is because of the creaminess and less sweet taste.
Many Cadbury fans were angered with this suit and used social media to express how they felt about it. #BoycottHersheys was one of the hashtags that fans used to protest.
Nicky Perry, the owner of an English-themed eatery Tea & Sympathy, in New York City’s SoHo district, is one shop that buys from LBB states “It’s just another thing to make everybody miserable. Why are we having a fight about chocolate? I mean, chocolate! You know what’s behind it [the lawsuit] right? Hershey’s doesn’t want people to eat Cadbury’s, because Cadbury’s is so much better”
“It is important for Hershey to protect its trademark rights and to prevent consumers from being confused or misled when they see a product name or product package that is confusingly similar to a Hershey name or trade dress,” states Jeff Beckman, a spokesman for Hershey’s. LBB has already agreed to stop importing British Cadbury products.
LBB has also agreed to halt imports on KitKat bars that are made in Britain; Toffee Crisps, because of their orange packaging and yellow-lined brown script which closely resemble Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups; Yorkie chocolate bars, which infringe on the York peppermint patty; and Maltesers. Hershey’s has a licensing agreement to manufacture Cadbury’s chocolate in the United States with similar packaging but with a different recipe that is will have a higher sugar content.
What are your thought’s about this suit? Does Hershey’s or Cadbury rule your tastebuds? Voice your opinion in the comments below!