NEW YORK: US chocolate maker Hershey has launched talks with Italian-based Ferrero on a joint bid for Cadbury, the object of a hostile takeover effort from Kraft Foods, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday, said talks between executives at Hershey and Ferrero had not yet produced an offer.

The discussions, in preliminary stages, were being held up by a dispute on Cadbury's higher-margin gum and candy businesses, the daily said.

Ferrero is a privately held company that makes Nutella chocolate spread and Tic Tacs.

The report said Hershey had been eyeing Cadbury but lacks the financial resources on its own to top Kraft's offer.

Kraft last week launched a hostile 9.8-billion-pound bid for Cadbury, which the British confectioner rejected as "derisory."