3 months after worm attack Dairy Milk in brand new pack

Early birds get the worms. But in its quick response to product infestation, chocolate major Cadbury wants to get rid of worms—forever....

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Early birds get the worms. But in its quick response to product infestation, chocolate major Cadbury wants to get rid of worms—forever. After three months, Cadbury India is re-launching its flagship brand Dairy Milk this Wednesday, which faced angry consumers from all over the country for selling worm-infested chocolates.

Stung with falling sales and adverse publicity to its flagship product in Diwali 2003, Cadbury India is coming out with ‘purity sealed’ packaging. The packaging will be similar to its other brand Five Star packaging, which is sealed from both sides of the bar.

The re-launch of the product will also accompany new price points and new advertising strategies, say company insiders. For Cadbury, the relaunch of the product comes at a time when Food and Drug Administration of Maharashtra has filed a complaint against the company in Mazgaon court for selling worm-infested products.

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Almost 80 per cent of Cadbury’s sales comes from Dairy Milk and any adverse publicity against the Rs 850-crore company can ruin its profitability. ‘‘We are announcing a new packaging and a special announcement on the Dairy Milk,’’ was the official comment made by the company on Monday.

Just prior to its peak selling season in Diwali last year, Cadbury came under attack from consumers as they found worms eating into their chocolates before them. According to the company, the lack of knowledge about among retailers about storing of the product was the main reason for infestation. But retailers shot back saying the company was saving costs by inferior quality of packaging.

On account of negative publicity, the company’s sales nosedived by almost 20 per cent in 2003. The company also completed a statewide survey of its retailers to find out what went wrong with its distribution chain. Cadbury has a distribution network of over 6,50,000 retailers but only a minority of them store chocolates in coolers/refrigerators. But FDA officials say their investigation report based on laboratory testing confirmed a manufacturing defect. They also add that certain discrepancies on part of the company, like inadequate preservatives, may have caused the infestation.

The infested pack was a part of batch number ‘28F3I1’ manufactured in July 2003 and the remaining stocks from that batch have been seized. A batch is based on a particular ‘lot’ of the product manufactured, the criteria for which differ from company to company. According to the FDA, the responsibility for delivering safe products to consumers rests on the manufacturer and the distribution chain. If proved guilty by the court, a “responsible” person in Cadbury India could face a prison term of up to three years, said officials. In addition, the guilty could also be fined up to Rs 5,000.