Procurement Intelligence Unit

From a small shop set up by Quakers concerned at moral degradation of British society in the early 1800s, Cadbury has grown into one of the world's most iconic brand names. And on the face of it, Kraft's humble beginnings – the firm was set up as a door-to-door cheese wholesale business in 1903 – isn't so far removed from that of its UK partner.

However, Kraft Foods' rise to become the second-largest food and beverage company in a modern world that is so far removed from the one in which it first began trading (with the use of a horse), has been fuelled largely by a seemingly insatiable appetite for mergers and acquisitions.

And while Cadbury itself hasn't been slow in the snapping up stakes in recent years, Kraft Foods' expansion over the past 20 years has been nothing short of remarkable.

Now, as Cadbury's workforce anticipates what lies in wait following one of the most highly controversial takeovers in recent years, thoughts will inevitably turn to how these two most unlikely (and seemingly unwilling) pair of bedfellows can form any kind of mutually beneficial bond.

Concerns are clearly so grave that key members of Kraft's board have already been hauled in front of the UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson in an attempt to address fears over the company’s long-term plans. The Fairtrade Foundation – with which Cadbury has formed a fruitful partnership in recent years – has also expressed reservations over the impact that the takeover could have on the UK company’s commitment to extend its ethical sourcing programme over the next decade.

In short, this appears to be a match made not in heaven, but in a boardroom where the barely concealed enmity between the key decision makers on both side of the Atlantic at times threatened to escalate into the business world's equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

And while Kraft and Cadbury didn't actually resort to firing chocolate bars at each other, the fact that the takeover went through at all appeared to be far more motivated by money than any discernable desire on either side to work together for the common good.

How much thought has gone into the acquisition, and how Kraft will make it work to its benefit is, at this stage at least, unclear. At the moment the major noises coming out of the company's Illinois headquarters involve defensive protestations over job cuts rather than any clear cut post-acquisition policy announcements.

What the future holds only time will tell, but for now the corporate world sits and waits for fresh developments with baited breath. The credit crunch may be over, but the confectionary crunch could be about to bite.