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Yo I can't say that King Charles's food tastes overlap much with mine. After all, we're talking about a 76-year-old monarch whose favorite food is apparently pheasant crumble pie (a dish that appears to have been lifted from a royal menu designed by his Tudor ancestor, Henry VIII). This is a man who frequently eats fruits and vegetables from the extensive garden of his private residence. I highly doubt you even know the concept of Deliveroo. But there is one vaguely controversial food opinion that the King and I apparently have in common: an apparent lack of enthusiasm for the great British chocolatiers Cadbury.
Let me explain. The King, of course, hasn't gone on a rant about how much he'd rather sit with a can of Celebrations at Christmas rather than scoff at a box of miniature Heroes (although, IMHO, he'd be right to say make that statement). That's simply not how royalty operates; They are famous for showing instead of telling. what he has What it has done, or at least what the royal household has done, is revoke Cadbury's royal warrant, an honor that recognizes companies that supply goods or services to the palace and senior royals.
The chocolate brand, which opened in Birmingham in the early 19th century but was bought by Kraft Foods in a controversial takeover in 2010, is far from the only big name to disappear from the list. In fact, 100 brands and products have had their warranties revoked, including luxury chocolatiers Charbonnel et Walker and consumer goods giant Unilever, which owns companies such as Marmite and Dove. “Cadbury is a much-loved brand that has been a part of British life for generations and remains the country's favorite chocolate,” said a spokesperson for Mondelez International, Cadbury's parent company. the independent. “While we are disappointed to be one of hundreds of businesses and brands in the UK that have not been given a new guarantee, we are proud to have had one previously and fully respect the decision.” Very magnanimous of them, really.
Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace is not commenting on the reasons behind the withdrawal of specific orders. The decision comes as a surprise, however, because Cadbury and its signature bright purple packaging is often touted as a British icon. Plus, he has a long history with the Windsors. It was first granted a royal warrant by Queen Victoria, her great-great-grandmother, back in 1854, when solid chocolate bars were a relatively new innovation (before that, chocolate was more commonly drunk). And it continued as a palace favorite throughout the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II: she reportedly received boxes of Bournville, the brand's red-wrapped dark chocolate, every Christmas.
Any suggestion as to exactly why Cadbury has fallen out of royal favor is, well, highly speculative. The King's focus on sustainability has been well publicized and some reports have suggested that this factor is increasingly key when it comes to handing out guarantees. But I would like to humbly state another reason, one that boldly breaks centuries of food-related conflicts. omerta in Great Britain. And that reason is because, get ready, Cadbury's chocolate is not that good.
The British love to talk about how our chocolate tastes so much better than the delicacies offered in, say, American supermarkets, as if we were channeling the spirit of Hugh Grant's Prime Minister into love in reality when he starts listing an erratic mix of things that are supposedly better in the UK. But this pat on the back feels a bit like misplaced nostalgia, the kind of feeling best limited to those Facebook groups where older people reminisce about the days when “good scavengers” roamed the streets. Yes, Hershey's chocolate is pretty bad, but is our local offering that much better these days?
I know that attacking this British stalwart is a bit like being mean to Mary Berry or expressing disagreement with David Attenborough's nature programmes.
At least for my taste buds (and I recognize that this certainly won't be the case for everyone, as we all perceive flavor in different ways), Cadbury's products have always been bland and disappointing. I found that they are either not sweet enough or overwhelmingly sweet (literally not hitting the sweet spot). My personal nemesis? Easter eggs. They are made from chocolate that is so fine that it breaks into small unsatisfying shards as soon as you open it. The taste? It's a bit like eating a bunch of powder reconstituted with chocolate. The disappointment is immense.
And that's before we even get into the issue of inflationary contraction, whereby products such as chocolate eggs, and indeed bars, are becoming smaller but more expensive (a process often attributed to increasing production costs and which, to be fair, is happening all over the world). food industry). People always complain about Freddos and their ever-increasing prices, but every time they do, I ask myself: why would you waste your small change on a depressingly tasteless chocolate effigy of a frog when there are other better sweets? flavor available at a similar price?
Yes, I know that attacking this British stalwart is a bit like being mean to Mary Berry or expressing disagreement with David Attenborough's nature programmes: it's not the thing to do. Perhaps my palette is not refined enough to appreciate its subtle charms. But I'm not the only person who feels this way: there are, inevitably, a handful of Mumsnet-style “Am I being unreasonable” debates in which dissidents dare to express their displeasure, and there are the occasional Reddit threads?
Perhaps this royal pushback will prompt Cadbury to up its game instead of getting carried away by its reputation. In the meantime, if you plan to visit us between Christmas and New Year's, don't bring a box of roses.
