The Hindu Business Line : Sweet tooth special

Between 968 and 1057 AD, Mercia, a kingdom that would have been in the English Midlands centred around River Trent, was ruled by the good Earl Leofric. At least he was good to the religious institutions in the area. He was a generous benefactor to churches and monasteries in the region and in this he was ably supported by his wife Godgifu. (Some period documents spell it Godgyfu too.)

However, Leofric apparently taxed his people heavily. So much so that they implored his wife to slip in a word or two about perhaps lowering the tax burden. The good lady begged and grovelled at her husband’s feet. Nothing doing. He refused to budge. Lady Godgifu, literally ‘gift of god’, was not one to back down easily.

She kept bugging him. And he kept not budging.

But you know how a woman’s persistence can be.

Finally, Earl Leofric agreed to look at things, provided she rode naked on a horse through the town. After some indecision, which I am sure left the men of the town on tenterhooks, the lady agreed. But an edict was issued that all must remain indoors with the windows shut and all spy cameras turned off as she rode dressed only in her long flowing hair.

Post ride, the Earl, legend says, ceded to her demands and taxes were lowered. Lady Godiva, as she is better known today, passed into the annals of history, myth and several seedy exotic movies many of which I refused to see in engineering college due to my value system.

After World War II, Joseph Draps, the Belgian chocolatier, opened his premium chocolate shop in Brussels and named it after Lady Godiva.

The brand soon grew and its products found a way into luxury stores everywhere. This is not Toblerone we are talking about here. This is the Armani and Gucci of sweets.

On December 20, the brand was sold off to a Turkish conglomerate with several interests in confectionary for $850 million. Lady Godiva currently has sales of half a billion dollars.

While everyone seems very pleased at the transaction, the underlying driver for Campbell Soup Company to divest in the company seems slightly more strategic.

Noticed that interesting ad for a mutual fund company that is on TV right now? How increasing sales in diet soft drinks indicates a growing demand for fitness products and services? Demand coming largely from freelance writers with sedentary lifestyles whose bellies are developing personalities of their own.

In a similar vein of sorts, Campbell is now looking at focusing on pro-fitness products such as soups and healthy snacks and leaving alone rich Belgian chocolates with an adventurous lady and horse on the brand logo.

Yildiz Holdings, which bought the brand, will now add it to a portfolio that already contains the Ulker brand. In all probability you’ve at least seen, if not consumed, an Ulker product. They make some of the imported chocolates that you find at kirana stores all over the place nowadays. (Stingy NRIs buy them in bulk to give away, keeping the good Galaxy and Twix and Snickers for themselves.)

A recent issue of a popular American magazine had an interesting long essay on yet another chocolate company called Dagoba. (Apparently the founder, Fred Schilling, wanted to call it Gadoba but then figured it sounded too much like Godiva.)

Fred started the company over five years ago literally out of a garage. He procured organic chocolate from South American forests and poured the flavoured bars out himself. His mom packed the bars and his dad kept the books.

It is a fascinating story of a brainwave leading to a thriving business. The story makes the entrepreneurial genes in the most risk-averse person tingle. (I already see dreams of a theme restaurant in South Mumbai. Wood furniture, quaint furnishings, maybe a book shelf even. Sigh.)

After five years of building a reputation for high-quality, socially responsible manufacturing, Fred sold the company to behemoth Hershey in October this year for a cool $17 million. Not bad for five years of hard work.

So next time you buy a Dairy Milk or a Five Star, mull over the complex strands of the chocolate business. Of romantic legends, suddenly rich entrepreneurs and global food consumption trends.

And by the way not everyone missed out on Godiva’s picturesque ride about town. A certain Tom gazed through a crack in a window. He was immediately struck blind. By God I assume.

And hence we get the term ‘Peeping Tom’.

Ok all this talk of chocolate is making me hungry. Let’s go grab a bar, shall we.

(The writer, an alumnus of IIM-A, was a management consultant before quitting to work as a freelance writer, author and general handyman. He blogs at www.whatay.com)

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