It is the little nuances that make the difference when biting into a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar made in the United Kingdom versus one made by Hershey’s in the United States, said Lisa Whitmore, who owns UK Gourmet in Newtown, along with husband Nigel, a native of England.

Hershey’s has owned the rights to manufacture Cadbury products in the US since 1988, but connoisseurs of the English-made product poo-poo any comparisons.

That poo-pooing has turned to boo-hooing recently, though.

A settlement in late January between Hershey’s and British importer Let’s Buy British (LBB) upheld Hershey’s claims that the importer was infringing on the Pennsylvania-based chocolate manufacturer’s brand trademark rights, by importing Cadbury chocolates made overseas, as well as other chocolates similar to American products made by Hershey’s. That  means that no more British-made Cadbury chocolates can be imported to the US.

“Customers have been pretty sad to think we’re not going to be able to get some of our favorite bars. People are hurrying in to get their favorite bars,” Ms Whitmore said this week. “We were told two weeks ago that whatever [the importer] has, is all we will get. They don’t have any more Cadbury’s.”

What is on the shelf at 147 Mt Pleasant Road is pretty much the last of the British Cadbury product UK Gourmet customers will find, going forward. The Easter bunny, however, will still be able to deliver the British Cadbury cream eggs and giant chocolate Easter eggs this year.

“We ordered those six to eight months ago, so we will get our Easter candy,” Ms Whitmore said.

For expatriates of the United Kingdom, the settlement is an unappetizing loss. It won’t be just the ionic Cadbury Dairy Milk bar in the purple wrapper that will be missing from specialty food store shelves. Among the other treats are candies like Toffee Crisp, Maltesers, Kit Kat, Crunchie, and Yorkies — many of which Hershey claims too closely resemble the American made counterparts in packaging or name.

Fans of the British Cadbury Dairy Bar contend that the small differences in the original recipe, when compared to the American recipe, make a big difference in taste.

“The recipe does vary,” said Ms Whitmore, “even down to the milk used. The milk [in Europe] is remarkably different. All the cows there are grass fed. [Imported Cadbury’s] is a much creamier tasting chocolate.”

Supermarkets will have the American Cadbury, but she is fairly certain that her customers will not be rushing to buy what they consider an inferior tasting product.

“If you taste the two, side by side, you’ll really see the difference,” she said.

She is unsure what caused the Hershey’s company to take on LBB this year, after over a quarter of a century of seemingly compatible sales. It cannot be a fear of competition, she mused.

“The sales of Cadbury UK is a drop in the bucket compared to US Cadbury,” Ms Whitmore said.

Eventually, all of the imported Cadbury products at UK Gourmet will be gone, but the Whitmores believe that customers will appreciate the many other chocolate bars imported from the UK that the shop carries.

She feels badly that shops focused primarily on the sales of imported Cadbury products will be hurt by the ban.

“One thing that will save us,” she said, “is that we are so diverse. [UK Gourmet] has lots of other imported products. A lot of little stores, not so varied, are going to struggle.”