http://www.chocolatereview.co.uk/ The latest chocolate news from around the world en-gb Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:01:28 GMT http://www.chocolatereview.co.uk/news.asp Sadly, as you will have heard, the Kraft takeover of Cadbury has been finalised. So far it looks like jobs are going and prices are going up. We wait to hear what other horrors may follow :-( In other American developments Mars are releasing 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp, sadly it's unlikely we'll get a Milky Way equivalent here. Instead Mars will start sponsoring some popular ITV programs. And in other Cadbury news, Green and Blacks will soon finally be completely fair trade - which will save me from having to correct G+B fans who kept getting this wrong (only Maya Gold was fair trade).   Now that the Krad-bury saga is closing we now have a new threat to fear. The idea that Nestle might want to make a play for Hershey! Naturally Chocolate Review is against any reduction in the diversity of the chocolate market (chocolate takeovers are only ok if a company is at risk of going out of business). You can join our Facebook group to show your support (this will probably be a long running story).   In more positive news our Chocolate Flowchart is now at version 1.5, and those nice people at Kellogg's sent me some of their latest product - called Fibre Plus and it's really not bad at all.   Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:36:47 GMT http://www.chocolatereview.co.uk/news.asp Is today a black day in UK confectionery history? Only time will tell if Kraft's takeover of Cadbury is good or bad for chocolate (sadly it's bound to be bad for jobs in the UK). Cadbury is the second largest manufacturer on www.chocolatereview.co.uk with 120 products voted on, albeit with a not so great average of 6.1 (still better than Nestle though). Will this score rise or fall after the takeover? We'll have to see. No doubt many more products will be discontinued anyway (don't bet on Wispa Gold becoming permanent, despite the seemingly good sales during it's limited run last year). If you're missing Cadbury of old already, check this article on the BBC with some lovely old images.   In less traumatic news, Mars will be reducing the saturated fats in its products over the summer - allegedly without any change in taste (wonder if the price'll stay the same too?) In what must be an unfortunately timed announcement Mars will also soon be releasing Galaxy Bubbles (I guess it was only a matter of time before Mars needed an Aero/Wispa competitor).   If you're still down about the Cadbury situation don't forget our fun page - although the Dairy Milk matching game might have a limited lifespan now :-( Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:03:17 GMT http://www.chocolatereview.co.uk/news.asp We're heading for the end (or beginning) of the Cadbury takeover saga. Hershey are expected to put in a counter bid to Kraft's and there are rumours of Kraft increasing their bid to woo more shareholders. For all the latest information check out our Facebook group. You can also join the Friends of Cadbury for news and to show your support in keeping Cadbury independent - you could win a £50 Cadbury hamper too!   If you haven't visited www.chocolatereview.co.uk in a while you'll find some new features: You can now link your Chocolate Review account to your Facebook account (using Facebook Connect) - instructions in the general forum (then you can vote or update your votes via www.chocolatereview.co.uk or our facebook application). Voting and updating your vote is more streamlined, gradually this functionality will be added throughout the site to speed everything up. If you're struggling to decide what chocolate to buy try our new chocolate flowchart! Inspired by the food flowcharts of www.topcultured.com this chocolate flowchart will guide you through a wide variety of (mostly) UK chocolate products, all of which are linked to further details on the Chocolate Review where you can vote or add your own mini-reviews! The reason for the word mostly in the above point, is that Chocolate Review now features some USA chocolate products. Soon we'll be adding some other non-UK products and the (very long awaited) ability to upload your own products for others to vote and review. Chocolate News to start 2010: Snackspot recently featured a nice run down of chocolate related products of the last decade Chocolate guns and ammo - tasty but deadly? After all the positive stories about British chocolate in America, this scary article suggests New Yorkers prefer Hershey to Toblerone and Cadbury Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:07:15 GMT http://www.chocolatereview.co.uk/news.asp Happy New Year from the Chocolate Review! 2009 was a good year for all things chocolate, let's hope 2010 is even better - and isn't marred by the potential takeover of Cadbury. Some chocolate review facts from 2009: Number of products added to the review in 2009 - 56 Product added in 2009 with the most votes - Milka Caramel Product added in 2009 with the highest average vote - Milka and Daim Product with the biggest increase in average during 2009 - Galaxy Dark Product with the biggest decrease in average during 2009 - After Eight Milk Now some chocolate news to close 2009: A chocolate wrapper collector - looking to meet other collectors Create your own personalised Wispa wrapper (sadly not wrapped around a Wispa for you) Cadbury gets 3 more days to prepare its defence to Kraft's takeover bid Google's new tech Goggles demonstrated with a bar of Toblerone :-) Finally, in case you already ate your Christmas chocolate, don't worry - it's already Easter!