So. The manufacturer of Velveeta ('bedder than cheddar') wants to take over one of our most 'treasured institutions'. Kraft's unwelcome bid for Cadbury's certainly seems to have spread the Primula amongst the Flakes, and the rumours have started. Dairy Milk is to be made in Gdansk, fingers of fudge in Poznan, that sort of thing. And England threw its hands up in horror, conjuring up visions of the violation of white-hatted lines of girls singing on production lines in blossom-filled Bournville, milk arriving by canal barge from Gloucestershire meadows, dancing under the trees in the lunch break. On hearing that Cadbury's Somersham outpost near Bristol may be closed, it suddenly became Fry's old factory, still turning out Five Boys I expect. No, as much as I bemoan the loss of our brands to corporate greed (HP Sauce made in Holland) , this is how it is. Cadbury's (I still use the apostrophe 's' they dropped years ago) is a multi-conglomerate itself, employing as it does Bertie Bassett and Jelly Babies, and will flog it immediately if the price is right. Any chance that Kraft will continue to make Fruit 'n' Nut under the apple boughs is as remote as Tomaszo Mazowieki. Of course I hope it won't happen, but sadly I think the days of awarding each other little tin CDM medals for worthy efforts are well and truly over.
8 comments:
The Wartime Housewife
said...
I know it's only chocolate and not exactly a staple food (except in my house)but I really, really worry that we are precipitating towards a situation where Britain grows nothing, manufactures nothing, produces nothing. When one considers the incredible diversity of natural resources, which incidentally, includes our people, and that we're an island, I really don't want to wake up one morning and find that we are held hostage by the rest of the world because we've relinquished our self-sufficiency with barely a whimper. It's not that I don't want to trade with other countries, I just want us to have something left with which to trade on equal terms.
Beautiful images of Bournville. What a far-sighted company Cadbury's must have been - not only in providing such good living conditions for their workers but also in presenting their business and Bournville so effectively using images like this one by Newbould.
I am attempting to avoid all things kraft whilst here at present easy due to the general nastiness but difficult due to ubiquity.I like to think Kraft is represented by building on my present post and
I am a designer, writer and photographer who spends all his time looking at England, particularly buildings and the countryside. But I have a leaning towards the slightly odd and neglected, the unsung elements that make England such an interesting place to live in. I am the author and photographer of over 25 books, in particular Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2006), More from Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2007), Cross Country (Wiley 2011), The Cigarette Papers (Frances Lincoln 2012), Preposterous Erections (Frances Lincoln 2012) and English Allsorts (Adelphi 2015)
"Open this book with reverence. It is a hymn to England". Clive Aslet
Preposterous Erections
"Enchanting...delightful". The Bookseller "Cheekily named" We Love This Book
The Cigarette Papers
"Unexpectedly pleasing and engrossing...beautifully illustrated". The Bookseller
Cross Country
"Until the happy advent of Peter Ashley's Cross Country it has, ironically, been foreigners who have been best at celebrating Englishness". Christina Hardyment / The Independent
More from Unmitigated England
"Give this book to someone you know- if not everyone you know." Simon Heffer, Country Life. "When it comes to spotting the small but telling details of Englishness, Peter Ashley has no equal." Michael Prodger, Sunday Telegraph
So. The manufacturer of Velveeta ('bedder than cheddar') wants to take over one of our most 'treasured institutions'. Kraft's unwelcome bid for Cadbury's certainly seems to have spread the Primula amongst the Flakes, and the rumours have started. Dairy Milk is to be made in Gdansk, fingers of fudge in Poznan, that sort of thing. And England threw its hands up in horror, conjuring up visions of the violation of white-hatted lines of girls singing on production lines in blossom-filled Bournville, milk arriving by canal barge from Gloucestershire meadows, dancing under the trees in the lunch break. On hearing that Cadbury's Somersham outpost near Bristol may be closed, it suddenly became Fry's old factory, still turning out Five Boys I expect. No, as much as I bemoan the loss of our brands to corporate greed (HP Sauce made in Holland) , this is how it is. Cadbury's (I still use the apostrophe 's' they dropped years ago) is a multi-conglomerate itself, employing as it does Bertie Bassett and Jelly Babies, and will flog it immediately if the price is right. Any chance that Kraft will continue to make Fruit 'n' Nut under the apple boughs is as remote as Tomaszo Mazowieki. Of course I hope it won't happen, but sadly I think the days of awarding each other little tin CDM medals for worthy efforts are well and truly over. 
8 comments:
I know it's only chocolate and not exactly a staple food (except in my house)but I really, really worry that we are precipitating towards a situation where Britain grows nothing, manufactures nothing, produces nothing. When one considers the incredible diversity of natural resources, which incidentally, includes our people, and that we're an island, I really don't want to wake up one morning and find that we are held hostage by the rest of the world because we've relinquished our self-sufficiency with barely a whimper. It's not that I don't want to trade with other countries, I just want us to have something left with which to trade on equal terms.
The illustration looks suspiciously like a Brian Cook.Is that the case?
Very Brian Cook-ish, but it's by Frank Newbould, who did a lot of railway posters in the same era.
Something for me to investigate there.
Beautiful images of Bournville. What a far-sighted company Cadbury's must have been - not only in providing such good living conditions for their workers but also in presenting their business and Bournville so effectively using images like this one by Newbould.
Good living conditions but they did not allow any pubs in their model village.
Bournville and a good glass of Cabernet sauvignon are food staples to me.
I am attempting to avoid all things kraft whilst here at present easy due to the general nastiness but difficult due to ubiquity.I like to think Kraft is represented by building on my present post and
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