About Cadbury is the global leader in the chocolate confectionery market which began in 1824 when a young Quaker named John Cadbury opened up a shop in Birmingham, England. John sold coffee, tea, drinking chocolate and cocoa at his shop. He believed that alcohol was a main cause of poverty so he hoped his products might serve as an alternative. He also sold hops and mustard and like many Quakers John had a high quality standards for all of his products.
Quakers at that time in England were prohibited from attending university, since it was affiliated with the church, and their pacifist beliefs kept them from joining the military. With very few opportunities available Quakers often went into business related fields or devoted their time to missions of social reform.
By 1842 John was selling 11 kinds of cocoa and 16 kinds of drinking chocolate and soon John’s brother Ben joined the company to form Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. The Cadbury brothers opened an office in London and received a Royal Warrant which was one of several as manufacturers of chocolate and cocoa to Queen Victoria in 1854. Six years later the brothers dissolved their partnership because of John’s failing health and the death of his wife. They left the business to John's sons George and Richard. John devoted the rest of his life to social work and died in 1889.
George and Richard continued to expand the product line and by 1864, they started making a profit. Cadbury’s Cocoa Essence, which was advertised as "absolutely pure and best," was an all-natural product made with pure cocoa butter with no starchy ingredients. Cocoa Essence was the beginning of chocolate as we know it today. The brothers moved their manufacturing operations to a larger facility four miles south of Birmingham in Bourneville as the factory eventually was known as.
Cadbury’s continued success with chocolate led George and Richard to stop selling tea products in 1873. they appointed Master confectioner Frederic Kinchelman and shared his recipe and production secrets with Cadbury workers. This resulted in Cadbury producing chocolate covered nougats, bonbons delices, pistache, caramels, avelines and a lot more. Cadbury manufactured its first milk chocolate in 1897 and two years later the Bournville factory employed over 2,600 people and Cadbury became incorporated as a limited company.
During World War I, over 2,000 of Cadbury’s male employees joined the Armed Forces. Cadbury supported the war effort, sending warm clothing, books and chocolate to the soldiers. Cadbury also supplemented the government allowances to the dependants of their workers. When the workers returned, they were able to return to work and take educational courses, the injured or ill employees were looked after in convalescent homes. During this period trade overseas increased, and Cadbury opened its first overseas factory near Hobart, Tasmania. The next year Cadbury merged with JS Fry & Sons, a past market leader in chocolate.
Cadbury later supported the war effort during World War II by converting parts of its factory into workrooms to manufacture equipment like milling machines for rifle factories and parts like pilot seats for fighter planes. Workers plowed football fields to grow crops, and the Cadbury St. John’s Ambulance unit helped people during the air raids. Chocolate was then considered essential for the Armed Forces and civilians alike.
In 1969 Cadbury merged with the Schweppes company to form Cadbury Schweppes. Schweppes was a well-known British brand that manufactured carbonated mineral water and soft drinks. The merged companies went on to acquire Sunkist, Canada Dry, Typhoo Tea and more. Schweppes Beverages was then created, and the manufacture of Cadbury confectionery brands was licensed to Hershey.
Cadbury Schweppes is the largest confectionery company in the world today, employing more than 70,000 employees. In 2006 the company had over $15 billion in overall sales. In March of 2007, Cadbury Scheweppes announced that it intended to separate its confectionery and beverage businesses. With almost 200 years in the business, Cadbury Schweppes will continue to prosper in the coming decades.
A timeline
1865 – Cadbury Cocoa Essence
1875 – Cadbury Easter Eggs
1897 – Cadbury Milk Chocolate
1905 – Cadbury Dairy Milk
1908 – Cadbury Bournville Chocolate
1915 – Cadbury Milk Tray
1920 – Cadbury Flake
1923 – Cadbury Crème Eggs
1929 – Cadbury Crunchie
1938 – Cadbury Roses
1948 – Cadbury Fudge
1968 – Cadbury Picnic
1960 – Cadbury Buttons
1970 – Cadbury Curly Wurly
1983 – Cadbury Wispa
1985 – Cadbury Boost
1987 – Cadbury Twirl
1992 – Cadbury Timeout
1996 – Cadbury Fuse
2001 – Cadbury Brunchbar, Dream & SnowFlake
Some Interesting Facts about Cadbury
- Cadbury was the first company to include pictures instead of just text on chocolate boxes.
- George Cadbury didn’t want to take mothers away from their children, so he developed a company rule that women had to leave work when they got married. Each married woman was given a bible and a carnation as a wedding gift.
- In 1886 Cadbury was one of the first firms to have dining rooms with kitchens and food for sale.
- A miniature metal animal (elephant, penguin, owl, fox, duck, squirrel, rabbit or turtle) was given away with specially designed cocoa tins in 1934. In the same year, Cadbury's tokens, which came with packs of cocoa, could be redeemed for lamps, kettles and saucepans.
- So many children joined Cadbury’s Cococub Club that it had 300,000 members in 1936.
- Cadbury’s World Visitor Center opened in 1990, welcoming 400,000 visitors in its first year.
- Cadbury launched a Get Active program in 2003, helping 10,000 teachers get in shape
Information from Wiki & Cadbury
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