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Having moved to the UK from the US I have watched the Cadbury saga with amusement. As a well-travelled food snob I have known for decades that US chocolate (e.g

by evgen 5y ago

Having moved to the UK from the US I have watched the Cadbury saga with amusement. As a well-travelled food snob I have known for decades that US chocolate (e.g. Hershey et al) is absolute shit. What I find hilarious is that people in the UK are quick to, rightly, point this out but then turn around and try to tell me that Cadbury is somehow 'good' chocolate. Now I get to see them moan that it has taken some dramatic turn for the worse after the takeover when at most it is a slight step down from an already low bar. Few Americans have access to good European chocolate so I can excuse their ignorance, but you can walk into a corner Tesco and get a bar of mid-grade German or Swiss for not much more than what is being paid for the mediocre Cadbury product...

captainbland 5y ago
"dramatic turn for the worse" That's supposed to be the butryic acid content. I don't know if Americans are just so used to it that they don't really notice but Hershey's smells just a little bit like vomit which is, I'd say, "a dramatic turn for the worse" for sure.
- petepete 5y ago
  Here's Charlie Brooker's review of Hershey's from the days before Black Mirror. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/25/cadbury-dairy-milk-kraft-takeover https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/25/cadbur...
- captainbland 5y ago
  fwiw I realise that I've actually misread the parent comment here and that the dramatic turn for the worse bit was about the Kraft takeover. Cadbury's doesn't really have this issue at the moment and imo while it's suffered a quality drop it's only really marginal. I think they ruined cream eggs at one point but they seem to have returned to something edible as far as I can tell. That said I'm still uneasy about allowing the sale of a British company with over a hundred years of years of history to a massive foreign conglomerate.
- gwern 5y ago
  I think very much it's 'used to it'. I had read about there being some butyric acid in Hershey's and this was part of its distinctive taste and shrugged it off, not knowing what that meant; a while later I went to Europe and while there, enjoyed plenty of candy. I came back and a month later bit into a bar and immediately went oh.
ido 5y ago
Why do few Americans have access to european chocolate? It's not like fresh fruits that go off easily/require climate controls, seems like it would be pretty easy to ship over the atlantic?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- mountainb 5y ago
  It's available in enormous quantities at every Walmart and Walgreens even in the most backwater towns in the country. The only place you would struggle to find one is at some gas stations, and even then lots of gas stations now have fancy stuff. Not to mention on Amazon, which also delivers to even the most out of the way places. It actually does require some measure of climate control. It does melt in non climate controlled warehouses and trucks in the summer months. It's a pain to handle chocolate at the distribution level.
- zdragnar 5y ago
  We also have access to genuinely good chocolate. European chocolates have the added markup up being imported, so they fill a small niche that you have to go out of your way to find. Hersheys and other candy bars are like fast food- ubiquitous but far, far away from being our only or best options.
  - humanrebar 5y ago
    I'll confirm this. Basically all grocery stores, most drug stores, and a lot of convenience stores sell Ghirardelli in particular. The U.S. also has a large range of boutique chocolate companies that aren't hard to find and buy from if you care. Why do Americans eat so much Hershey's? I have no idea. Why do they buy ice cream stripped of milk fat, filled with air, and thickened with gum? Most don't know what they're missing I guess.
    - yourapostasy 5y ago
      > Why do Americans eat so much Hershey's? I have no idea. Why do they buy ice cream stripped of milk fat, filled with air, and thickened with gum? Most don't know what they're missing I guess. I suspect because of a penchant to substitute quantity for quality. I make my own vanilla ice cream...with no sugar. Just pure cream, a little whole milk, egg yolks, and vanilla, cooked as a custard. Lots and lots of vanilla. It is extremely rich and decadent, I can't find a comparable ice cream anywhere else. It is also obscenely expensive compared to any retail ice cream, though I can easily afford it; the vanilla (or its extract if I'm in a hurry) is the most expensive part per gram, but that cream gets spendy as well when compared to store bought brands. I only make it once a month because it is so flavorful that eating it more often turns it into a less pleasant experience, because it can get cloying when tasted too frequently. I can easily see why anyone who makes ice cream a frequent dessert or snack food will gravitate towards far cheaper and less flavor-packed alternatives.
fmajid 5y ago
America also has a huge number of passionate and outstanding craft chocolate-makers like Amano or Guittard. Also some poseurs like Mast Brothers or Dandelion Chocolate, unfortunately, but in most urban areas you have plenty of options other than Hershey's. I'd say the availability of good chocolate is probably better than in the UK from my personal experience in San Francisco and London, but then again SF is not incredibly representative of the US in general.

by evgen 5y ago

captainbland 5y ago

"dramatic turn for the worse" That's supposed to be the butryic acid content. I don't know if Americans are just so used to it that they don't really notice but Hershey's smells just a little bit like vomit which is, I'd say, "a dramatic turn for the worse" for sure.

petepete 5y ago
Here's Charlie Brooker's review of Hershey's from the days before Black Mirror. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/25/cadbury-dairy-milk-kraft-takeover https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/25/cadbur...
captainbland 5y ago
fwiw I realise that I've actually misread the parent comment here and that the dramatic turn for the worse bit was about the Kraft takeover. Cadbury's doesn't really have this issue at the moment and imo while it's suffered a quality drop it's only really marginal. I think they ruined cream eggs at one point but they seem to have returned to something edible as far as I can tell. That said I'm still uneasy about allowing the sale of a British company with over a hundred years of years of history to a massive foreign conglomerate.
gwern 5y ago
I think very much it's 'used to it'. I had read about there being some butyric acid in Hershey's and this was part of its distinctive taste and shrugged it off, not knowing what that meant; a while later I went to Europe and while there, enjoyed plenty of candy. I came back and a month later bit into a bar and immediately went oh.

ido 5y ago

Why do few Americans have access to european chocolate? It's not like fresh fruits that go off easily/require climate controls, seems like it would be pretty easy to ship over the atlantic?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mountainb 5y ago
It's available in enormous quantities at every Walmart and Walgreens even in the most backwater towns in the country. The only place you would struggle to find one is at some gas stations, and even then lots of gas stations now have fancy stuff. Not to mention on Amazon, which also delivers to even the most out of the way places. It actually does require some measure of climate control. It does melt in non climate controlled warehouses and trucks in the summer months. It's a pain to handle chocolate at the distribution level.
zdragnar 5y ago
We also have access to genuinely good chocolate. European chocolates have the added markup up being imported, so they fill a small niche that you have to go out of your way to find. Hersheys and other candy bars are like fast food- ubiquitous but far, far away from being our only or best options.
- humanrebar 5y ago
  I'll confirm this. Basically all grocery stores, most drug stores, and a lot of convenience stores sell Ghirardelli in particular. The U.S. also has a large range of boutique chocolate companies that aren't hard to find and buy from if you care. Why do Americans eat so much Hershey's? I have no idea. Why do they buy ice cream stripped of milk fat, filled with air, and thickened with gum? Most don't know what they're missing I guess.
  - yourapostasy 5y ago
    > Why do Americans eat so much Hershey's? I have no idea. Why do they buy ice cream stripped of milk fat, filled with air, and thickened with gum? Most don't know what they're missing I guess. I suspect because of a penchant to substitute quantity for quality. I make my own vanilla ice cream...with no sugar. Just pure cream, a little whole milk, egg yolks, and vanilla, cooked as a custard. Lots and lots of vanilla. It is extremely rich and decadent, I can't find a comparable ice cream anywhere else. It is also obscenely expensive compared to any retail ice cream, though I can easily afford it; the vanilla (or its extract if I'm in a hurry) is the most expensive part per gram, but that cream gets spendy as well when compared to store bought brands. I only make it once a month because it is so flavorful that eating it more often turns it into a less pleasant experience, because it can get cloying when tasted too frequently. I can easily see why anyone who makes ice cream a frequent dessert or snack food will gravitate towards far cheaper and less flavor-packed alternatives.

fmajid 5y ago

America also has a huge number of passionate and outstanding craft chocolate-makers like Amano or Guittard. Also some poseurs like Mast Brothers or Dandelion Chocolate, unfortunately, but in most urban areas you have plenty of options other than Hershey's. I'd say the availability of good chocolate is probably better than in the UK from my personal experience in San Francisco and London, but then again SF is not incredibly representative of the US in general.