Hershey Workers Fear for Their Jobs

Lebanon Daily News ^ | February 25, 2007 | Steve Snyder

[somniferum]

I don't find these chocolates cheaper. Do you? Someone is justifying cheap labor.

Not necessarily. If the chocolates are equally priced with Hershey's raw material costs twice that of their competitors, that would indicate their margins are much thinner.

[pandoraou812]

ewww.... Well I needed a reason to give up chocolate anyway.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

While a national manufacturing recession began in 2000 and ended in July 2003, Pennsylvania’s slump has continued, with a net loss of more than 200,000 jobs since July 2000.

Everyone's giving away Clinton's secrets.

[JoeSixPack1]

Coca Cola is made in Mexico....

The Coca Cola Plants in Mexico use sugar cane. USA Cocoa Cola Plants don't.

Do you really think there is only one manufacturing plant??

[Publius6961]

Suger growers? Unionized? Anything to support that?

No.
Not fertilizer manufacturers, either.

Try sugar processors.

D'OH!

[Domandred]

By shifting production to Mexico, Hershey can buy sugar at the world price, which in turn can make its product pricing more competitive

I'm sorry but I don't believe for a minute pricing is going to be "more competitive". Companies that go for cheap labor are only going for greater profit margins, not so they can lower prices.

[flaglady47]

I looked it up on the web. Actually, it is British, as I had guessed by virtue of the word "Cadbury" that sure sounded British to me. It' probably marketed by Hershey's but it is a British milk chocolate, and now I know why it tastes so good; it has more milk products and less wax:

Cadbury's have been making chocolate since 1824, when John Cadbury opened his first shop. Cadbury Dairy Milk; first launched in 1905, is still the market leader in the UK today.

British chocolate has a more creamy taste than American, it has more milk products and less wax. All our Cadbury candy is imported from England.

[flaglady47]

"The main question is, is Cadbury cheaper? I haven't found them to be cheaper, have you?"

Nope, but that's probably why it tastes better too, and therefore a bit more expensive. One doesn't always want to take the lowest bid; the quality of product may not always be the better one.

[texastoo]

Actually, I am talking about price as that is the reason Hershey is moving their plant to Mexico.

I've talked with people who work in Mexico but live in the U.S. who work at companies that moved their business to Mexico. The percent of profit was so low that the employees couldn't understand the rational for the move to Mexico. That is what it looks like Hershey is doing. Probably government incentives and the need to be interdependent.

I like just about all chocolate from anywhere except Mexico. However,I do like Mexican caramel.

[khnyny]

The Coca Cola Plants in Mexico use sugar cane. USA Cocoa Cola Plants don't.

The US plants use high fructose corn syrup. It doesn't taste as good as sugar and there may be some adverse health implications. Only the best for the American consumer, doncha' know.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sorry to hear it. I figured that was part of the problem as well. Our 'Rat Governor is intent on driving business out of our state, too.

What is their problem? What part of 'Business Tax Base' don't they understand? They can only get so much blood from we Turnips! 'Rats are such economic retards.

[Aliska]

buc81, I think Fannie May was out of Chicago, probably aimed at the midwest market. They were good. They would have to be shipped in refrigerated trucks and made in air conditioning to have the same quality control. I still miss See's out in CA toffee with chocolate and chopped walnuts.

oneamericanvoice, your assessment is probably right on. Agreed, and maybe it's my paranoia, but there is also something I can't quite put my finger on driving it, like it's the "in" thing for people to live here . . . same thing that brought Europeans here in past centuries. Some made it, some didn't do so well. Some excelled at crime although they could have chosen honest work. Now some of the descendants of those noble European castoff "riffraff", yes I'll call them noble even though they supposedly "stole" the land and committed genocide, immigrants aren't doing so well either. Some are.

kaylee, I've always liked Cadbury's, it was first made in England, have always liked the way Europeans processed their chocolate. I don't have the ambition to tackle making candies like I once did. Didn't even make that marshmallow creme fudge this year. That requires chocolate chips. Who makes those? Hershey's are the best for it. But I have found a wonderful substitute, Aldi's 12-oz at $.99 a pkg. Maybe they are Hershey's and relabelled . . .

The bottom line is I don't like any of our business operations relocating to Mexico unless aimed at their market. That is not the case here. I don't feel as comfortable eating their food products, but I do some, tried some custard that wasn't too bad from a Mexican grocery store, figured if it had germs, cooking it would kill them, but not other contaminants. If it looks good, I just take my chances. Gotten sick on enough American food over the years or maybe it was just my turn to get a bug :-(

There WILL be a day of reckoning for all this uncontrolled immigration, and it ain't going to be pretty. That is my prognostication. We cannot take in so many different cultural groups at the rate we have been doing without eventually paying a very high price . . .our children and grandchildren will have to suffer the consequences if they can't afford to escape to a gated community with armed security guards . . .

Locally we have thugs coming from Chicago because the rents are cheaper here. What happens the other day? A carjacking right on the main drag I drive all the time, two blocks from my granddaughter's place, not that bad a part of town - yet. They block the car behind them, drag the people out of the car and hit them with baseball bats . . .I drive an older stick shift, don't know if that makes me safer or not . . .it's getting scary. The cultural group doing these crimes tends generally not to be Hispanic. I don't know if they've caught all the perps or not, we are building a new jail, it still won't be enough for what I see looming. Turnstyle justice.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Years ago the ex wife used to have a friend who was a Cadbury sales rep. Her job was to pull the old candy and restock with new. She was supposed to trash the old candy bars but instead she'd drive to inner city neighbohrood play grounds and open up the trunk and let the kids go wild.

[Palladin]

Mmmm...Fannie Mae peanut brittle! It's great, but I only see it in our stores around Christmas time.

[lowbridge]

And when employees for a new plant to be built in Monterrey, Mexico, are factored in, the actual number of job losses at the company’s U.S. and Canadian plants could total 3,000.

And yet the Mexicans are coming here?

I can see the gringo americans illegally invading mexico, chasing after this factory.

[Aliska]

Nobody could beat my mother's peanut brittle. Everybody raved about it, but I never liked the stuff. Now butter toffee with almonds is a whole 'nuther matter. My mother never made that; I have a couple times.

I don't know if we have her recipe or not. I know she used raw peanuts, light karo syrup and sugar (I think), skins rubbed off, turned golden brown when done, and it's best made in the winter when the humidity in the house is low.

She made heavenly divinity, too. I finally did learn to make that, really nice, rich and creamy, but it won't work in high humidity either.

[TomSmedley]

We visited the Hershey museum in 1990 with our oldest two kids, and really enjoyed the experience. Hope we can do so with the younger two.

Is the museum still in operation?

[TomSmedley]

The reason for the workers’ lack of information is simple, Hummel said. Hershey’s administration “is out for the stockholders.”

Yet the majority stockholder is an orphanage.

[rabidralph]

You better stock up on chocolate, just in case :-)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

No kidding, LOL! Luckily there's a wonderful shop nearby that stocks the Swiss and German brands. If I have to make that sacrifice and not buy American made chocolate, I will. :)