American fans of British sweets such as Cadbury Eggs and Yorkie Bars may now have to go abroad to get their hands on their beloved chocolate treats.The Hershey Company has filed a lawsuit against two of the major importers of British chocolates in the U.S. — LA-based LBB Imports and New Jersey’s Posh-Nosh Imports — which would make it nearly impossible to purchase these products stateside,according toThe British Weekly.
The suit claims that the sale of the imported products “is likely to cause confusion … and to deceive the public as to the approval, sponsorship, license, source or origin” due to the fact that the packaging on some of these candies is similar to the packaging of Hershey products (for example, comparing a Toffee Crisp bar wrapper to that of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups). The suit also claims that the products infringe on Hershey trademarks.
Although the lawsuit has yet to be resolved, a settlement is on the horizon that will likely not work out in favor of the importers.
“If Hershey is successful, and they likely will be, we’ll be no longer be importing all of the products that are included in the case,” Nathan Dulley, president of LBB Imports tells PEOPLE.
The lawsuit has already caused a shortage of Cadbury products for some businesses specializing in the sale of British foods and gifts.
“We’ve been dramatically affected,” says Michael Bennett, co-owner of The British Connection in Torrance, California. “We’re almost on our last legs of Cadbury now. We have hardly anything left!”
Bennett laments that the chocolates his customers have come to love — including Cadbury’s Buttons, Flake chocolate bars, Crunchies and Curly Wurly bars — will soon no longer be available to them.
“There aren’t many ex-pats that buy the Hershey’s chocolate or Hershey’s Cadbury – the taste is different,” he explains. “It’s just devastating.”
But he’s not accepting the fate of these sweets without a fight.
“I’ve got pages and pages of petitions here which I’m going to mail off to Hershey,” says Bennett, who says he has collected between 400 and 500 signatures. “Just let us do our thing!”
Nicky Perry, co-owner of N.Y.C.’s Tea & Sympathy expressed similar outrage.
“This is a really big deal,” she says. “All the little stores that sell all English products — I’m lucky, I’ve got restaurants and I’ve got food that goes out from my store — but all the other stores, that’s all they do. They will be out of business.”
“We’ve been selling this chocolate for 24 years, how dare you?” exclaimed Perry. “We have got all these problems in the world, and we are fighting about chocolate? It’s crazy! We don’t want your s––– Hershey’s chocolate!”
Hershey could not immediately be reached for comment.
–Gabrielle Olya
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source: people.com
