Latest news with #Bournville
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Americans living in the UK try Cadbury's Bournville for the first time - and Brits are quick to point out their big mistake
An American couple living in the UK have filmed their first taste of Cadbury 's Bournville - and Brits were quick to point out their big mistake. Brianna Sky Morton and her husband Thomas have been testing British snacks and sharing their reactions on social media since moving to the UK in 2022. The couple have amassed more than 54,000 followers on TikTok, with viewers recommending what sweet treats they should try next. In a clip posted on May 8, Brianna and Thomas try Cadbury's Bournville - a dark chocolate bar that has held a place in the nation's heart since 1908. Named after the Bournville factory in which it was first made, the bar has a cocoa content of 32 percent, making it darker than milk chocolate but lighter than most dark chocolates on supermarket shelves. 'You guys have been asking and we finally got it,' Brianna excitedly says as she holds up the recognisable red and gold packaging. But after breaking off a piece for herself and popping it in her mouth, Brianna's face immediately screws up. Meanwhile Thomas is more impressed by the classic British treat and says: 'I can do it. Dark chocolate is supposed to be healthy too. I kinda like it.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brianna Skyy Morton (@briannaskyyyy) 'It's growing on me,' Brianna interjects. 'It is so different. It's not bad it just really took me by surprise.' To which her husband replies: 'I wish it was creamier. I think it's a really good dark chocolate though.' 'It is better than American dark chocolate though,' Brianna adds. The video, which was seen by over 17,000 people across TikTok and Instagram, sparked much debate in the comment section - with many Brits pointing out what they deemed to be the couple's big mistake. 'I've never known anyone to just eat Bournville,' one disgusted user commented. 'If you're buying Bournville, you're baking a cake,' they insisted. A second viewer agreed: 'I only use this when making desserts like a dark chocolate mousse. It's perfect for stuff like that.' But other Brits came to the couple's rescue, with one clarifying in the comments: 'I buy them just to eat!' The video sparked debate in the comments, with some Brits arguing that Bournville is just for baking As well as its original dark chocolate version, Bournville comes in different flavours including orange, mint crisp as well as rum and raisin. 'No, no, no...' one user protested. 'If you're going to try Bournville, it needs to be old Jamaican Rum. 'Now that is a chocolate bar.' Taking a more diplomatic approach, another advised the American couple: 'My mum loves the rum and raisin Bournville. 'They have more than just the plain dark chocolate.' This is not the first time Brianna has stirred up a debate in her comment section. In April, the American blogger posted a video to her account listing the words she had to Google when she first moved to the UK. The first word the content creator listed as unusual was 'busking', referencing performers and singers on the UK streets, leaving many users confused on the social media platform. Hundreds took to the comments to query if the US have an equivalent name for a busker, but most speculated that Americans simply call them 'street performers'. The next word on Ms Morton's list was 'chinwag', a piece of British slang believed to have derived in the 1800s from the physical movement of a face while speaking. She said: 'I had to look that up. I'd never heard it before, but it just means to have a chat with someone.' Some similar American equivalents to the term are to 'have a convo', a 'chitchat' or to 'shoot the breeze'. Another remark by the TikToker which left some users scratching their heads was her reference to the common use of the phrase 'innit' in England. She said: 'Instead of saying isn't it, [people will say] innit. It's funny because they took a short word and made it slightly longer.' Those in the responses said Ms Morton had again misunderstood the use of the slang and that 'innit' was in fact, a shorter version of the phrase.
Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Times
Cadbury hires 50 tasters to test chocolate for a living
If you eat chocolate you probably have a repertoire of firm favourites that you return to, but Cadbury still hopes to tempt you into trying something new. Its owner Mondelez International has invested nearly £3.5 million on a new tasting centre in Bournville as it doubles down on the UK as its global research hub for chocolate. Chocolate lovers will regularly join 50 newly-trained tasters at the consumer tasting facility, which opens in June inside an existing building, as the company explores new aromas, textures and flavours — or what it calls 'attributes'. There were thousands of applicants for the roles which will play a key part in product development for much-loved brands including Cadbury, Milka and Toblerone. According to Louise Stigant, the UK managing director, a typical session will see a panel of 12 chocolate tasters sample products and discuss their attributes, with the feedback used to refine the product's development. But this is not an all-day chocolate binge: people can only try things out for a couple of hours before their taste buds become overwhelmed. Stigant said: 'I think it should give us an advantage so that we understand our consumers better. The consumer research piece should then help us to make sure that we're both making quality products consistently and getting clearer about innovation.' Every chocolate product that Mondelez makes and sells in over 150 countries around the world begins its development in the UK. Since 2018 Mondelez has invested £16 million in its research and development facilities here and now has more than750 research personnel including food scientists, nutritionists and engineers. Its latest product launch is a collaboration with Lotus Bakeries' Biscoff. The resulting Cadbury Dairy Milk Biscoffhas sold several million pounds worth of units in its first month. Stigant said: 'The textural piece is what people seem to be really intrigued by: the softness, the chocolate and the creaminess, and then there's a crunch with Biscoff. It's that newness that excites people.' She added: 'Having the R&D centre alongside manufacturing has meant that we've been able to move with pace from the concept idea last June through to actually having it on the shelves in the last few weeks.' Cadbury has never stood still. The brand traces its roots back to 1824 when John Cadbury opened a grocer's shop in Bull Street, Birmingham. Among the groceries, he sold cocoa and drinking chocolate. In 1879 John's son George and brother Richard moved their business from Birmingham's city centre to a site four miles away, naming it Bournville after the nearby stream, the Bourn. The move was driven by both the need to expand their business and a desire to provide better living conditions for their employees. Dairy Milk was launched in 1905 and by 1914 had become the company's best-selling product. Over the years since then the chocolate maker has created plenty of other famous products including Roses, Creme Eggs and Heroes. A new era dawned in 2010 when the US consumer goods giant Kraft Foods bought Cadbury for £11.5 billion after a hostile takeover battle that triggered widespread opposition over fears the British firm would lose some of its lustre. Kraft subsequently spun off its global snacks business, including Cadbury, as Mondelez International. Yet over the past ten years Mondelez has invested nearly £300 million in its UK manufacturing footprint, increasing production efficiency by 30 per cent and expanding overall capacity. It has eight sites across the UK, employing over 4,000 people directly and 10,000 indirectly. This includes factories in Bournville and Sheffield, a cocoa bean processing plant in Chirk, north Wales, and a milk processing facility in Marlbrook, Worcestershire. Stigant said the aim is to 'compete in the UK from a manufacturing point of view. We're the number one brand in the UK and have been for quite a period of time, and I think that's an important indicator that the brand is being loved and treated in the way it should be'. FENNELL PHOTOGRAPHY The appetite for Cadbury's products shows no sign of waning despite the popularity of anti-obesity jabs, according to Stigant, who pointed out that the overall snacking category is still growing. It is not all plain sailing, however, given the high price of cocoa and the rise in other input costs. 'We have absorbed some of those and then we've had no alternative but to pass on some of those costs to consumers through either very carefully thought-through pricing or by reducing the size of products.' Products that do not take off are discontinued. Such was the fate of the low-sugar version of Dairy Milk, dropped in 2023 despite a three-year development by 20 scientists and £2 million marketing spend. Next to be put to the consumer test is temperature-activated packaging. Available from June on some limited edition Dairy Milk bars, the packaging features four summer-themed designs: deck chairs, umbrellas, kites and inflatables. Using so-called thermochromic technology, the wrapper changes to reveal a deep blue colouring when each bar is chilled. At Christmas there are likely to be more new treats from the 201-year old firm but they are being kept strictly under wraps for now.
