Hershey betrays Scharffen Berger
Well, we all knew it was coming, right? Hershey has demonstrated how much the Scharffen Berger name means to them: they’re closing the Berkeley plant and moving all Scharffen Berger operations to Illinois.
Hershey’s role in the “Artisan Confections Co.” (Scharffen Berger, Joseph Schmidt, Dagoba) has been low key since the big buy outs. I watched the Scharffen Berger logo pop up more and more in grocery isles. I noticed the taste getting ever-so-slightly poorer, enough so that I could be imagining it. But whenever a big company buys a smaller, independent one, they mean to make changes. That’s the whole point. There’s always talk about keeping the spirit of the little guy intact, and it’s always just hot air.
My favorite part of the story is this quote from Scharffen Berger PR consultant, regarding the late co-founder Robert Steinberg:
“I’m glad Robert is not alive to see this,” Kwan said. “If the lymphoma hadn’t taken him, this would have.”
Oo! That smarts. The other downside is for the 150 employees who will be “affected” by the consolidation. Hershey describes their severance packages as “Very competitive.” What competition would that be, then? Do these employees have second jobs, who are also trying to lay them off? What if the severance isn’t competitive enough; can they choose to stay?
Hershey-watchers will not find the news surprising. The company has been struggling to find its stride in recent years, with little success. Two years ago they began moving operations to Mexico, and last year there were heavy rumors of a sale to Nestle. Decades ago, Hershey dominated the US market on the basis of nostalgic goodwill. Their reserves of goodwill are nearly tapped out, and wihout it they’re just an outmoded company selling sour chocolate.
Scharffenberger, Schmidt plants to be closed – SFGate
Disclosure: I have met John Scharffenberger and thought he was a nice guy. I have not met Milton Hershey.
Tags: bean to bar, industry, mainstream, News