The Cadbury's workforce was reduced from 11,000 to less than 4,000 over the past few years and, as has been noted above, the company was planning further cuts including the factory closure that has provoked Villan's rancour. It may not be pretty, but that's the capitalist system. There are other ways of running economies - worker control, mutuality, etc - but few of those now raging against Kraft's incursion would ever vote for one. (I would.)

The Cadbury family, which has always been closely involved in the business since buying a chocolate recipe from Sir Hans Sloane nearly 300 years ago, was firmly in the paternalistic tradition that has for some reason characterised the British confectionary industry. At least the model village they established at Bourneville in Birmingham, complete with extensive parkland and latterly even a Serb orthodox church, will live on as part of the legacy.

I would be surprised if Kraft tamper with the recipes used for the UK/Europe markets. The recipes work, and Kraft are in business to make money. And nobody who's tried both Cadbury's and Hershey's could be in any doubt about which is the superior chocolate.

For Sir Hans, incidentally, who more or less invented the stuff, chocolate was just a by-product of his botanical and natural history researches, his persuance of which resulted in a private collection which he donated to the nation at a bargain price and which became the foundation for the British Museum.