The company's iconic Creme Eggs, a sweet Easter tradition for four decades, are undergoing two key changes.
The first is a packaging change that affects pricing. Now the number of eggs in each package is now 5 instead of 6. Cadbury explains that this change, which effectively increases the product's price, is due to rising costs (of chocolate, among other ingredients).
The second change, which is just as controversial, is to the recipe for the chocolate shell, which was similar to Dairy Milk. Cadbury in Canada will still offer the standard Dairy Milk shell, but Creme Eggs sold in the UK will have a different chocolate shell.
One change not under Cadbury's control is that its products made in the UK will no longer be imported to the US. Why? Because Hershey legally has use of the Cadbury brand and product names in the US market. Cadbury and Hershey use different recipes for products that carry the same name (such as Creme Eggs and Kit Kat bars). Therefore, Hershey says consumers will be confused by the dueling UK-made and US-made products.
After some legal back-and-forth, the importer that had been distributing UK-made Cadbury products in US markets must halt its importing. US fans are unhappy because many prefer the taste of UK-made Cadbury (made by Cadbury) to the taste of US-made Cadbury (made by Hershey).
