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Hershey's, Scharffen Berger & Joseph Schmidt


ludja

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Here's the link.

After hearing on their tour in the spring that part of their secret is to make all the chocolate in small batches on vintage chocolate machinery I wonder how things will change... Hope they can maintain the quality even as they lose their charm.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Here's Hershey's news release which notes the small batch process. I would expect Hershey will use its distribution advantages to improve SB's margins while keeping the quality up. Otherwise, why bother? Hershey is not run by dummies. They may make mistakes (like going into the macaroni business), but they're not stupid.

Bob Libkind aka "rlibkind"

Robert's Market Report

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surely this was S/B's intention from the get go.

brilliant if it was. congrats to them.

Perhaps, although I don't believe it is a good thing for the product.

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hopefully, hershey will buy larger quantities of the same high quality beans scharffen berger utilizes at a lower price and the quality remains the same but prices go down!

outrageously optimistic? me?

kit

"I'm bringing pastry back"

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What direction are they going in.. Setting up locations nation wide,

a la Godiva.. Or will they sell their bars in gourmet shops.. And whats the next place that will arise and fill up the "keeping it real" genre before they sell out..

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Distribution of the golden eggs is rarely a major problem, but once they get their hands on the goose, that's another story.

Robert Buxbaum

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Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

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:hmmm: Given the crap they pass off as chocolate under their own name, plus what they sell under the Cadbury name, I have no hope whatsoever. SB is good stuff. What a pity. :sad: Edited by shelly59 (log)
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Gee, I adore Scharffen Berger, AND I indulge in a classic Hershey bar or Special Dark once in awhile, too! Maybe this will mean a NEW mini in the mini bag? heh heh... must remain positive.....

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Hope they can maintain the quality even as they lose their charm.

If they can, and keep their BOD happy, they will. I doubt it, though, and shareholders generally don't care about the quality of the product, just how much $$ is coming back to them. I think it's time to stockpile.

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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I met John Scharffenberger at a newsstand in San Francisco and he did not strike me as a stupid man. He sold the chocolate business, no doubt for a large sum of money, just like he sold his sparkling wine business and he will probably move on to some other interesting venture.

Of course it won't be the same once Hershey gets a hold of it. Just like with the sparkling wine, once he's gone, all that will be left is the long German name.

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One thing I have noticed on my visits to Fog City News, is how many of the European chocolate brands they carry are owned by Nestle or Kraft.

I wonder if Scharffenberger will continue to offer tours of their factory in Berkeley or if they will get pulled into the mothership in PA? I haven't been over to take the tour, and will be sad if I missed that experience entirely.

-Erik

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Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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welll hershey owns Godiva if you didnt already know. Just my to let you know i've never cared for godiva even before I knew it was hersheys.

It is sad that scharffen-berger is no longer privately owned, because out of all chocolate companies they were probably one of the most personal ones.

Dean Anthony Anderson

"If all you have to eat is an egg, you had better know how to cook it properly" ~ Herve This

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