Kraft v Cadbury : It's Crunchie time.

Will the world's richest investor save the world's oldest chocolate firm?

It's an extraordinary question, and the answer lies somewhere between Keynsham, North East Somerset, and Omaha, Nebraska.

The chocolate firm belonged to Joseph Fry, who registered a patent in 1777 for the manufacture of chocolate tablets, in Union Street, Bristol. Part inventor, part apothecary, the Quaker chocolatier lived an extraordinary life, (read more on that here), and his sons eventually created the world's first edible chocolate bar (before then it had only been a drink) in 1847.
But it's the Fry factory at Somerdale, outside Keynsham, that matters today.

Fry's Chocolate Cream. Turkish delight. The Crunchie, the CurlyWurly. Names that make mouths water across Britain, names that make us all seven years old again. All made in the famous chocolate factory at Keynsham.

Spin forward a couple of centuries and, as we now all know, the factory is now owned by Cadbury. Another Quaker baby, yes, but those days are long gone. Now the investors want returns, and the management insist a move to Poland will cut costs.

And that, we all thought, would be that.
Goodbye Crunchie, hello 'Crunchski'.
Quite.

But then, enter the world's richest investor. Warren Buffett, the "sage of Omaha", the man who started with nothing and now, at 79, is worth a cool $40bn. His firm, Berkshire Hathaway, is the biggest single backer behind Kraft, who today have launched a formal bid for Cadbury's.

So far, so much business as usual. Investors, multinationals, buyouts. No more the magic of the Quaker Apothecary, the sugary dreams of childhood.

Except that Kraft have pledged to save Keynsham. No really, the UK CEO told me so - and if you don't believe me, watch this.

Cadbury's management will dismiss this offer out of hand. But it's not their answer that matters. It's the investors. Over the weekend, the City's smart money was on a refusal unless the price went above £8 a share. Today's bid works out at just £7.20 (though because it involves Kraft shares, the actual bid price fluctuates).

Is that it then? Game over? Mr Buffett rebuffed by Bournville?

Warren Buffett is famous for his thrift. He recently told Evan Davis that he never offers more than a company is worth, even if the market is bidding the price up. If he thinks Cadbury is worth £7.20 a share or £9.8bn, he will walk away before raising his bid. And for Keynsham, that may finally be that. The little bar created by a Quaker apothecary in a Bristol backstreet will head east to Poland, and our chapter in the story of chocolate will close.

Unless, unless... I don't think this tale is done with surprises yet, do you?