Choc Horror! – Does Cadburys taste different in different countries?

There has been quite a few studies recently, published on the BBC News website on 18th March, that Hershey’s (the US’s main chocolate manufacturer) is banning the import of British-made Cadburys in the favour of US-made Cadburys. This has sparked a big debate on which country’s chocolate is ‘inferior’. But will the new chocolates taste the same as the original ones? That’s the big question…

Opinions

John Hanson, the owner of The British Shoppe, a UK food store in Orlando, Florida, said that “American chocolate is rubbish. Cadbury's chocolate tastes like proper chocolate whereas Hershey's chocolate tastes like wax."

More than 37,000 people have signed a petition to boycott Hershey's, which has the licence to produce Cadbury chocolate in the US, and sees imported British-made Cadbury chocolate as a copyright breach. Yet lots of people liked the US chocolate manufacturer, as it racked in over $7.6 billion in 2014.

Taste Tests

BBC News asked people from the US and the UK to participate in a taste test of Cadbury Dairy Milk and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate. All of the participants could tell which chocolate was which, along with describing Hershey’s as ‘harder’, ‘bitter’ and ‘less rich’.

A taste test of the British-made Cadburys and the US-made Cadburys brought in interesting results. When it came to distinguishing between the two, one taster remarked that they were ‘quite similar’, another thought that they tasted exactly the same. Tasters who noticed a difference didn't always agree on anything else. One thought the US sample was creamier and more gooey, another felt the opposite, saying that the UK sample was ‘more melty. One said the US chocolate was sweeter, whereas another disagreed. The tasters didn’t know which of the two was better. A British expat in the US, Alexandra Dimsdale, recognised the taste of British-made Cadbury chocolate, and found a ‘weird aftertaste’ in the US-made version - and in Hershey's too.

The opinions were quite varied, with some preferring the US Cadburys and some preferring the UK Cadburys. The following table sums up what the taste testers thought.

Table of Results

American Testers
Ishmael Buckner / Sarah Geisman / Sidharta
Nilakanta
US Cadburys / 4 out of 5 / 4 / 4
‘Melt in the mouth sensation’ / ‘Maybe a tiny bit chalky / ‘Creamy and sticky’
UK Cadburys / 5 / 5 / 3
‘Simpler, softer … dainty’ / ‘Little more melty’ / ‘Wasn’t bad just average’
Hershey’s / 4 / 4 / 2
‘Little bit more bitter’ / ‘Not as rich’ / ‘Little chalky’
British Testers
Ranil Dissanayake / Alexandra Dimsdale / Jenna Mullen
US Cadbury / 3 out of 5 / 3 / 3
‘Tastes really normal’ / ‘Chemical fruity taste’ / ‘Quite creamy’
UK Cadbury / 2 / 5 / 3
‘Sticky and rich’ / ‘Delicious and comforting’ / ‘Tastes the same’
Hershey’s / 1 / 2 / 1
‘Really really sweet’ / ‘More oily’ / ‘It was bad’

Local Opinions

We asked the opinions of Simon, 14, from the UK. He said that chocolate from different countries ‘are nice, because they have different variety and lots of types. There are gummy bear chocolate in France, which tastes disgusting. They aren’t better than British chocolate but they are different. Hershey’s chocolate tastes like sick. My dad got some from work, it was horrible.’

Miss McCready, from the UK, said that she ‘really liked Reese’s chocolate, from America. To be honest, I can’t tell the difference, but I know that you can’t beat a good bar of Cadburys. Cadburys is better because it tastes creamier, milkier and has more variety. I don’t think that Hershey’s should ban British Cadburys because British chocolates are renowned as being the best.’

What do you think?

Lots of people from both countries think that Hershey’s shouldn’t ban the import of British-made Cadburys. What do you think about this? Which country’s chocolate is better?

By Adam (14), Joshua (13), Jonathan (13), Thomas (14)