FabianPattberg.com

Takeover of Cadbury by Kraft: The sector loses one of its leaders

January 19th, 2010 - 12:56 pm

Today it was announced that Kraft will take over Cadbury. Here are some of the links to the the story:

What this means for the Sustainability / CSR sector?
This is not good news for Sustainability/CSR as we will lose one of the most forward thinking companies in this field and brands like Green and Black’s http://www.cadbury.com/ourbrands/featurebrands/Pages/GreenandBlacks2.aspx and others that shine through their responsible business practice will be swallowed by a global giant that only has not really shown itself as an equally responsible business.

This is my video response to the news today:

I will start recording video responses to interesting breaking news as well as events from now on. Please let me know what you think about this format and obviously about your view of the Cadbury takeover by Kraft.

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  • Thank you everyone for the comments on this post so far.
    @Christian: Good point. I will try to keep it shorter next time. Promised! ;-)
    @Jimmy: Good point on the hedge funds ownership level and the listed company argument. I totally agree.
  • christianconrad
    Hi Fabian,
    I really like the Video format and I think you did a great job. Just one little tip - maybe try to make it even shorter and concise, 1 minute/1.30 max is an ideal length, I think and you definitely can get one message across in that time. But I am looking forward to more!
    best
    Christian
  • Hi Fabian - great point on being a stakeholder. They certainly have been ground breaking in terms of reporting as well.
    I think another massive point is about publicly owned companies and their actual ownership. In Cadbury's case hedge funds piled in when Kraft sale came into view (25% of shares by time of sale in hedge funds hands http://bit.ly/74tITY). Whether this is good or bad doesnt really concern me -the issue seems to me to be about multinationals and their ilk being honest about their brands and identity, not playing up the heritage / ethical line when they are never in a position to resist takeovers etc due to the nature of them being listed companies.

    Jimmy
    @jimmygreer
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