cocoa – Page 21 – Michael Niemann

January 28, 2009January 29, 2020

Hershey to Close Scharffen Berger Plant in Berkeley

The Hershey company announced that it will close the Scharffen Berger plant in West-Berkeley as well as the Joseph Schmidt in San Francisco to consolidate production in other facilities.

Hershey acquired both companies in 2005 to set up their premium chocolate subsidiary Artisan Confections. Later they also acquired Dagoba in Ashland, OR, as part of Artisan Confections. The SF Chronicle reports that some 150 jobs will be lost.

I guess that’s what happens when a local producer is sold to a global corporation. Tradition and local roots fall by the wayside.

The company was opened in 2001 after co-founders Robert Steinberd and John Scharffenberger started making their chocolate in San Francisco. As I reported in this blog, Robert Steinberg dies of lymphoma in September last year.

A former public relations consultant for Scharffen Berger is quoted as saying: “I’m glad Robert is not alive to see this. If the lymphoma hadn’t taken him, this would have.”

January 27, 2009

On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 3

On to the final part of my response–the role of science. Both comments advanced a view of science as the savior of poor African farmers. I beg to differ.

But let me first clarify. I’m not opposed to science. I understand that science has brought about important breakthroughs in agriculture. But I reject the view of science as a value-free zone that exists in a vacuum, separate from the rest of the world. Science is always for someone and for some purpose, to paraphrase Robert Cox.

Continue reading “On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 3”

January 26, 2009

On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 2

In my last post I challenged the “ceteris paribus” thinking of the two critical comments. Here, I’d like to focus on the larger historical context.

Take the closing sentence of the second comment: “Enough is enough! Give African farmers the tools and knowledge they need to lift themselves out of poverty.” A noble sentiment, to be sure, but one that seems to leave out some important questions.

Continue reading “On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 2”

January 24, 2009

On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 1

My recent post on the silences of the Sustainability Principles announced by the World Cocoa Foundation elicited two comments from some rather high-powered sources. First came a comment from someone at the Sustainable Tree Crops Program which is actively engaged in training cocoa farmers through its farmer field schools and which receives some of its funding from the WCF. This was followed by a comment from Jim Gockowski, who’s with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, a multinational/multidisciplinary organization promoting science as a means to reduce poverty and malnutrition around the world. I guess I ought to be gratified that my blog has caught the attention of folks at those levels. So here’s a reply.

Continue reading “On Science, Agriculture and Progress, Part 1”

January 23, 2009

Concentration of the Chocolate Industry Continues

Several news outlets reported today that ADM, one of the largest commodity brokers in the world, has acquired Germany’s Schokinag, one of the largest European makers of chocolate and cocoa powder. “This acquisition will be an excellent fit for our business as we continue to enhance our global presence across the entire cocoa and chocolate value chain,” said ADM’s Cocoa and Milling vice president Bemis. Continue reading “Concentration of the Chocolate Industry Continues”