Hershey goes to Mexico!

I know this topic is a tad on the late side, but I had to get my facts straight before committing it to writing. First of all the rumors are true, Hershey is indeed closing plants here in the states, cutting its workforce by 11.5 % and moving jobs to a new plant in Monterey, Mexico. The times quotes Hershey CEO Richard Lenny as saying that labor costs in Mexico are 10% less than in the U.S. and that by 2010 the changes will save shareholders $190 million. This move is what the company is calling a "global supply-chain transformation." I call it GREED!

Look, I understand economics and how the money go-round works. What I don't understand is why would this great American icon let its board of directors and CEO carry out such heinous business decisions in the name of their shareholders, and then line their own pockets. I know times are tough but come on Dick this is a company built on the backs of hardworking Americans! This decision is yet another byproduct of the North American Free Trade Agreement which, from its beginning, has done more to erode the U.S. economy than perhaps any single piece of legislation in U.S. history.


Milton Snavely Hershey bailed out so many folks during the Great Depression by offering jobs, building schools and taking in young boys off the street. He even struck a deal to put chocolate in k-rations during WWII. He was quite the philanthropist compared to these money grubbers. I'm pretty sure he's turning over in his grave over this.

I would very much like to say boycott their products, but I haven't found Hershey's to be particularly tasty these days. I don't know if the recipes have changed or what but it's definitely a lesser chocolate. Now, knowing that people have had their lives disrupted for a few extra bucks makes it that much easier to steer clear.

* In December 2004, Hershey acquired the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. from The Shansby Group.

* In July 2005, Hershey acquired the Berkeley, California-based boutique chocolate-maker Scharffen Berger.

* In November 2005, Hershey acquired Joseph Schmidt Confections, the San Francisco-based chocolatier.

* In November 2006, Hershey acquired Dagoba Organic Chocolate, a boutique chocolate maker based in Ashland, Oregon


As of February 1st 2008 Hershey closed their Oakdale, California plant laying off some 575 workers. 

Keep Off the Grass

Once you have your first taste of chocolate there's no going back! From the beginning it was never anything but obsession. I don't remember much of my first candy experience but I sure as hell remember my first chocolate bar. 

My great grand parents used to keep a bevy of snacks and goodies in bowls on top of several off-white doilies in the dinning room. Their collection rivaled that of any candy store I had ever seen. There were all sorts of colored jelly beans, peanut brittles, licorice medallions, caramels, mints, taffies, gumdrops and chocolate. 

From the moment we arrived I would begin to stalk those bowls as if they were wildebeest at the watering hole. While no one was looking I would bound out of hiding from under the dinning room table, snatch handfuls of wrapped goodies, and bolt for the back door and out into the yard. It wasn't until I rounded the garage that I would open my fist to see what I managed to pillage. 

My first chocolate bar was a Hershey Bar (milk chocolate). I remember this because of the shiny gold wrapper and the fact it was all I manage to steal on that particular run. It felt big in my hands as if I stolen a gold bar from Fort Knox. I distinctly remember looking around for security guards, police, swat teams.....my parents. 

Once I peeled the foil back and stuck the bar in my mouth I thought I had bitten into a volcano, a sort of chocolate Vesuvious. Each bite was like another fiery blast to the senses. Did I take my time to savor my victors....nope, I gobbled it up on the spot. In this null and void there is only chocolate, a deep whiff and the olfactories had kicked in, it was maddening. I must have looked like a cocaine addict rubbing my gums with the melted chocolate from my fingers. 

After it was all over I just stood there looking at the wrapper. It was a magical moment. Everything felt friendly, inviting, soothing. Even the grass along the garage seemed to be waving at me. From then on I knew things would be different. 

Men & Chocolate: An Untold Obsession

I'm so tired of this trend that women love chocolate more than men or prefer chocolate to sex or can better "appreciate" chocolate. I understand that psychological associations with chocolate are influenced by a number of things, mostly advertising and cultural influences, but let's be real how can anyone possibly know how another being feels about chocolate? I'm here to stand up for men and to say "yes....it's OK to have an obsession with chocolate! Yes....I have to have some chocolate right now!" Look, I'm not trying to come off as a sexist by writing this, I just want to put things in perspective. 

I really blame early marketing strategies for the predicament we are now in. During the year 1937 Milton Hershey started shipping the Ration D bar of chocolate overseas to the troops. This chocolate served two purposes; first as a morale boost, and second as a high-energy, pocket-sized emergency ration. Back at home they launched a different campaign, that of marketing. This chocolate was sweeter than that of the Ration D bar. The advertising reflected a comfort food that was to ease the stress of having loved ones so far from home. Once the troops came home these marketing trends stayed in place. So, it came to be that chocolate was identified as a woman's food.  

Culturally speaking, I really dig how the Japanese treat their version of Valentine's Day. Giving of chocolate, as gifts of love has been long popular there since the late 1950s. What's different about this day in particular is that the women give chocolates to men. 

Research investing both the physiological and psychological basis of one having  a chocolate obsession is pretty inconclusive. I believe it's most likely a combination of both. If chocolate obsessions were entirely physiological people wouldn't eat chocolate for just those reasons. Most researchers believe chocolate's sensory qualities, chemistry, cultural values, social values and hormonal influences all play a role in chocolate cravings. It is the complete chocolate experience that people crave. Not one single chemical or quality can be solely responsible for satisfying a chocolate craving. 

So guys, don't be ashamed to hoist that truffle high and declare your love for that wonderfully dark, rich, intoxicating treat! 

A Brief History of Chocolate

Xocoatl is the raw, unsweetened form of chocolate. A word from the Nahuatl language, xocoatl derives from xoco, bitter, and atl, water, and is the source of the word chocolate itself. Xocoatl is taken immediately from the cacao bean before processing, and although used to make chocolate later on it has an extremely bitter taste. In making chocolate, sugar is added and the bitter taste is replaced by sweetness.

When Spanish conquistadors first visited the Aztecs they were served cups of hot, unsweetened chocolate. When the Spanish found the word "Xocoatl" difficult to pronounce, they began calling the drink "chocolat".

-Taken from Wikipedia