Mandy’s a fruit & nut case but he can’t stop Hershey

Lord Mandelson has entered the battle over the future of Cadbury's - not just as a concerned business secretary but, much more serious, as a life-long Cabdury's Fruit & Nut lover.

As The First Post reported last week, many people find Hershey's products low in cocoa content, waxy in texture and generally inferior. They worry that Cadbury's quality will drop if the American company takes over.

‘I have eaten a Hershey bar in America; it was nothing special’

Now it transpires that Mandelson is among the Hershey-phobes. He told the Mail on Sunday, which has been campaigning to keep Cadbury's British, "I am a chocaholic in that I eat it every day. Fruit & Nut is probably my favourite."

He added: "I travel around the world and I can say absolutely that the best chocolate is found in Britain. I have eaten a Hershey bar in America; it was nothing special. Cadbury is the best - a great British company."

However, Mandelson made it clear that he was giving his preference as a private individual and could not stop a sale.

Choosing his words extremely carefully, he said: "To me, Cadbury stands for fine quality and a great heritage. My message to its shareholders and its management is that we expect you to protect the heritage, its product quality and its contribution to the UK economy."

Or in other words, if Hershey's can come up with an acceptable offer, there's nothing he can do to stop it.

And an offer does look more likely after it was revealed that two US banks, JP Morgan and Bank of America, are ready to lend Hershey $7bn to help the US company bid $17bn, thus trumping Kraft's $16.2bn offer.

Hershey would help to fund the bid by disposing of some of its European brands to the Italian producer Ferrero, makers of Nutella and Ferrero Rocher. Another possibility remains a joint bid for Cadbury's by Hershey and Ferrero. ·