Hershey's to Close Scharffen Berger Plant in Berkeley; Robert Steinberg Spinning in Grave
Photograph from orphanjones on Flickr
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Hershey's will shut down the Scharffen Berger plant it acquired when it bought the brand from Scharffen Berger founders John Scharffenberger and the late Robert Steinberg in 2005.
Serious eaters know how I feel about Steinberg, who died last year, and there can be no doubt how Robert would have felt about this. I remember having lunch with him right after the sale had gone through, and he articulated his many concerns about the plans Hershey's had for his beloved chocolate company.
Scharffen Berger's longtime publicist Deborah Kwan weighed in on this topic in the Chronicle story:
"It was home grown. They really changed the way people regarded chocolate in this country. I'm glad Robert is not alive to see this. If the lymphoma hadn't taken him, this would have."
Is there a cautionary tale here? Maybe so, maybe so. In any event, we're about to find out.
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22 Comments:
That's tremendously sad. My wife and I went to the SB plant in the fall of '07 and we were amazed that such a small facility made 100% of the SB chocolate. The workers were so proud of their craft, but also of their autonomy.
obersts001 at 8:37PM on 01/28/09
This is truly sad!!!
Jodib at 8:54PM on 01/28/09
Oh, no! I visited the factory this past summer, and it was amazing--big enough to be productive but small enough to care about the details.
runnereater at 9:13PM on 01/28/09
WHAT THE FRICK. :( I have to visit one last time and eat in the cafe...
Pammeh at 10:28PM on 01/28/09
Yes, the cautionary tale is don't sell your company if you care about it.
cybele at 11:42PM on 01/28/09
I'll never eat another Hershey product for as long as I live. That is beyond any sense of morality.
eberwick at 11:49PM on 01/28/09
scharfenberger milk is my favorite chocolate of all time. guess i'll have to buy some before it disappears.
cybercita at 12:06AM on 01/29/09
my Berkeley is dying ...
melodylio at 12:30AM on 01/29/09
Noooo! I love Scharfenberger and I love Berkeley. This is terrible. :(
yogurtsoda at 12:36AM on 01/29/09
They've already stopped the tours (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/01/26/daily55.html). I am raging about this whole situation.
Jitterro at 2:00AM on 01/29/09
The brainless minds who run Hershey are just like the dumb-ass cookie cutter execs who ran most of the great American companies into the ground. Once a long time ago, Hershey was a people company. Not any longer, not never as long as these clowns keep their noses on the bottom line.
It takes guts to keep a brand going in the face of what cowards fear most: loss of money. I'm running out to buy all the Scharfenberger chocolate I can find.
What bugs me is, why did these morons buy the company if they never meant to keep it alive?
Michael Safdiah -
mymymichl at 2:20AM on 01/29/09
Tonight's news said that the retail outlet in the SF Ferry Building would stay open - but I couldn't discern when, or if,they intend, to demolish the Scharffen Berger brand and name. Even if it continues the name, a big difference will be in the processing procedure and choice of beans.
Ghirardelli will now get my business.
It's really a shame, but the founders might have thought of that before they sold and gotten some kind of contract that ensured the company's existence in it's original format.
What about Smucker's and White Lily Flour - More of the same....
suegsf at 5:33AM on 01/29/09
spreadsheet jocks run the world .... into the ground!
alktraz at 8:29AM on 01/29/09
Nooooooooooo! What a sad day for chocolate! I'm stocking up on Scharffen Berger...
Veron at 9:34AM on 01/29/09
This is a real shame but not altogether surprising. I wonder about the fate of Dagoba.
michellelikestoeat at 10:36AM on 01/29/09
Sorry, but my sympathy is ZERO for your dead friend (though tons of sympathy for the employees). Your dead friend sold FOR THE MONEY. Big corporate money, so he got his. If he had "concerns" he should not have sold. Once Hershey took ownership, it was theirs to do with what they wished. They PAID (your dead friend -- ka-ching) for the right.
Pupster at 11:15AM on 01/29/09
like some others who already said this... the cautionary tale is don't sell your company if you don't want to lose control of it.
foodinmouth at 2:08PM on 01/29/09
shoot, i better get out and get me some Scharffen Berger dark chocolate. that stuff keeps me healthy. why would Hersheys do a thing like that?
dozertx at 2:33PM on 01/29/09
To those who are talking about hoarding - Scharffen Berger is still being made and will continue to be made. At their Robinson, IL factory. Which is probably what you've been buying for the past few years anyway.
cybele at 3:41PM on 01/29/09
Bottom line is, this guy sold the company to a large company.. If he really gave a shit he would have had in the contract that the Factory must remain open..
I doubt this businessman was so naive that he thought Hershey was going to continue in the same direction..
Large company buys small company with a great name.. Large company strips the small company only keeping the name and nothing else..
This is nothing new.
NYBITECLUB at 3:48PM on 01/29/09
First of all the man is gone. What was his passion, his business, his life was sold to Hershey Foods. Unlike others I see what Hershey foods contributes to the area in which it is. The Milton Hershey Foundation
http://www.mshersheyfoundation.org/ is as much a success story as Robert Steinberg's story. Milton Hershey built a community there, it is not just a place to buy Hershey Bars and go to the amusement park.
Yes Hershey makes waxy american chocolate.
It sells shitloads of it a year. Every now and then I grab a Reese's cup because I am in the mood for that kind of thing. Just because we are chocolate afficinados does not mean that the average american does not look forward to the work that Hershey's puts forth.
Not everyone is as exacting and concerned with it like we are.
If you want to keep the love of chocolate alive buy Robert Steinberg's book which to me is a must have for all Scharffen Berger fans
http://www.amazon.com/Essence-Chocolate-Recipes-Baking-Cooking/dp/1401302386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233294632&sr=1-1
Robert inspired me to use the good chocolate in my baking and I will not see him trashed. Yes he sold his company. He had cancer. I am sure his foremost thought was that his work go on and for his family. Who can tell what goes through the mind of someone who was ill for over 20 years.
Certainly not me. I am much in awe of all his work and contribution to chocolate and as cybele has said the products are not being made in PA.
Hershey is not going to retool.
JerzeeTomato at 1:11AM on 01/30/09
It would have suited to have identified a date for the closure. I on April 24, 2009 am about to buy Scharffenberger chocolate, actually would have except I read this first, and would be more inclined to do so if the factor were not closed yet. Now I am uncertain. I agree with anti-Hershey comments. Hershey chocolate is not made in Pennsylvania. It is made in Mexico. That Milton Hershey Foundation is a success "story" is b.s. One does not eat success "stories" in my neighborhood or books either. Mr. Levine probably complained because his history professor asked for dates on examinations. Dates do matter. They even help one buy chocolate.
maxice at 6:18PM on 04/24/09