Saturday 25 July 2009

Cadburys and palm oil and now palm kernel

Reply received by a NZ supporter from Cadbury.

Now we need to know if the milk they use comes from NZ cows fed palm kernel from Indonesia. You will probably remember yesterdays news report on that subject.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/farming/2665342/A-kernel-of-truth

The web site address for Cadbury is below. Why not write and ask them if the milk they use in chocolate comes from cows fed on palm kernel?


http://www.cadbury.com/

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Dear xxxxxx

Thank you for taking time to contact us regarding our New Look products.
At Cadbury, we are committed to providing people with quality products they enjoy and trust.

Cadbury Australia and New Zealand can confirm that it has ensured that all the palm oil purchased for its Cadbury Dairy Milk range is certified as
sustainably sourced.

Cadbury is a founding member of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil
(RSPO), and has been working since the RSPO’s creation to develop sustainable sources of Palm Oil. The RSPO is a not-for-profit association
that includes representatives from both the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and Oxfam International on its Board.

As a business we only use palm oil purchased from other audited and approved members of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil.

We have provided some further information below regarding our recipe along with the link to our website FAQ's:

http://www.cadbury.co.nz/About-Cadbury/Frequently-Asked-Questions.aspx

The changes we have made to our chocolate were never intended to alienate or upset any of our consumers. We trust this will reassure you and allow
you to enjoy our products with confidence.

Kind regards
CADBURY LIMITED


Wendy
Consumer Services
Ref No. 1157115


RECIPE

Prior to introducing the new Cadbury Dairy Milk recipe in New Zealand in
May this year, we tested the taste and texture extensively with New Zealand
consumers and the new recipe, including vegetable fat, to confirm they will
continue to enjoy it.

We have been making chocolate in and for New Zealand for over 100 years and
we are New Zealand’s most popular chocolate. During this time we have
constantly strived to make our chocolate better tasting and at the same
time ensure it remains affordable.

Over the years our recipe has evolved due to technological changes in the
production process, as well as changes in ingredient sources. Whilst these
changes have not been noticeable to most New Zealanders, we have always
tried to be open about the reasons for the change and committed to ensuring
the best possible product for our consumers - this remains the case with
the new recipe Cadbury Dairy Milk in New Zealand.

The location of where we make our chocolate does not alter the taste as we
use the same ingredients in our New Zealand factory as we do in our
Australian factory. In fact, in our Australian made blocks, we include
Dunedin manufactured chocolate crumb – the milk and sugar base ingredient
in Cadbury Dairy Milk.

It absolutely makes no sense whatsoever for us to impose a recipe that the
majority of New Zealanders won’t enjoy eating. Of course, time will tell if
our new recipe will be accepted, however we genuinely believe we have a
delivered a product that the majority of New Zealanders prefer.

There are different types of vegetable fats and Cadbury Dairy Milk has
always contained vegetable fat – cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is one of the
major ingredients that has always been in our chocolate. The recipe for
Caramello has not changed and for some time we has included blend of
vegetable fat, including palm oil. Recently, we introduced a small amount
of different vegetable fat, which includes palm oil, to our Cadbury Dairy
Milk recipe.

The primary reason for doing this is because our research has been
consistently telling us that the majority of New Zealand consumers believe
we could improve their enjoyment of our chocolate by making it slightly
softer to bite. Vegetable fat helps deliver this softness to our chocolate
whilst at the same time maintaining its great taste. Many consumers have
told us they have noticed the chocolate is softer and they are pleased with
this.

The second reason we have introduced this different vegetable fat is to
maintain consumer value during times of skyrocketing costs of raw
commodities such as cocoa and sugar. Cocoa in particular has doubled in
price in two years. To manage this, we could either almost double the price
of each block to our customers, or keep costs down by introducing a very
small amount of vegetable fat. Our consumers made it very clear to us they
didn’t want the price of our blocks to increase so we have introduced
vegetable fat to help make it more affordable.

Vegetable fat by nature does not influence the taste of chocolate. That is
why most chocolate on the market already includes a small percentage of
vegetable fat in it.

One of the reasons some consumers may notice a taste difference is because
of the new wider yet thinner shape of the chocolate within our blocks. The
new shape is designed to more evenly spread the taste of chocolate
throughout the mouth. In contrast, the smaller squares from the former
block tended to concentrate the delivery of the chocolate to a smaller area
of the mouth. This change in shape and density can deliver a different
taste for some consumers, as independently verified by Otago University.

Cadbury is a responsible business and we care that our consumers continue
to enjoy our products. For that reason, the minor changes we did make have
been backed by extensive consumer research. We would never intend to
alienate or upset any of our consumers and we sincerely hope consumers will
try the product and continue to enjoy its great taste and quality.

Health & Fat Levels

The vegetable fat that we are using in our new recipe Cadbury Dairy Milk
and Caramello chocolate is made up of natural ingredients (including Palm
Oil) with variable levels of saturated fats. However, it does not contain
trans fatty acids and there is no increase in the saturated fat content of
the chocolate as a result of vegetable fat’s inclusion.

Cadbury Cocoa Partnership – a historic alliance to secure the future of cocoa farming. Visit http://www.cadbury.com/ to learn more