1800–1900: Early history[

An 1885 advertisement for Cadbury's Cocoa

In 1824, John Cadbury, a Quaker, began selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate in Bull Street

in Birmingham, England. From 1831 he moved into the production of a variety of cocoa and
drinking chocolates, made in a factory in Bridge Street and sold mainly to the wealthy because of
the high cost of production. In 1847, John Cadbury became a partner with his brother Benjamin
and the company became known as "Cadbury Brothers". In 1847, Cadbury's competitor Fry's of
Bristol produced the first chocolate bar (which would be mass-produced as Fry's Chocolate
Cream in 1866). Cadbury introduced his brand of the chocolate bar in 1849, and that same year,
Cadbury and Fry's chocolate bars were displayed publicly at a trade fair in Bingley Hall,
Birmingham. The Cadbury brothers opened an office in London, and in 1854 they received
the Royal Warrant as manufacturers of chocolate and cocoa to Queen Victoria. The company
went into decline in the late 1850s.
1891 advertisement

John Cadbury's sons Richard and George took over the business in 1861. At the time of the
takeover, the business was in rapid decline: the number of employees had reduced from 20 to 11,
and the company was losing money. By 1866, Cadbury was profitable again. The brothers had
turned around the business by moving the focus from tea and coffee to chocolate, and by
increasing the quality of their products.

Cadbury Factory, Bournville is located on the south side of Birmingham, England

The firm's first major breakthrough occurred in 1866 when Richard and George introduced an
improved cocoa into Britain. A new cocoa press developed in the Netherlands removed some of
the unpalatable cocoa butter from the cocoa bean. The firm began exporting its products in the
1850s. In 1861, the company created Fancy Boxes — a decorated box of chocolates — and in
1868 they were sold in boxes in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day. Boxes of filled
chocolates quickly became associated with the holiday.

Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, Cadbury created the modern chocolate Easter egg
after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded into smooth shapes. By 1893,
Cadbury had 19 different varieties of chocolate Easter egg on sale.

In 1878, the brothers decided to build new premises in countryside four miles from
Birmingham. The move to the countryside was unprecedented in business. Better transport
access for milk that was inward shipped by canal, and cocoa that was brought in by rail from
London, Southampton and Liverpool docks was taken into consideration. With the development
of the Birmingham West Suburban Railway along the path of the Worcester and Birmingham
Canal, they acquired the Bournbrook estate, comprising 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) of countryside 5
miles (8.0 km) south of the outskirts of Birmingham. Located next to the Stirchley Street railway
station, which itself was opposite the canal, they renamed the estate Bournville and opened the
Bournville factory the following year.

In 1893, George Cadbury bought 120 acres (49 ha) of land close to the works and planned, at his
own expense, a model village which would 'alleviate the evils of modern more cramped living
conditions'. By 1900 the estate included 314 cottages and houses set on 330 acres (130 ha) of
land. As the Cadbury family were Quakers there were no pubs in the estate.

In 1897, following the lead of Swiss companies, Cadbury introduced its own line of milk
chocolate bars. In 1899 Cadbury became a private limited company.

1900–1969

The packing room at Bournville, circa 1903

Cadbury’s chocolate bars (Dairy Milk back of tray), circa 1910

In 1905, Cadbury launched its Dairy Milk bar, a production of exceptional quality with a higher
proportion of milk than previous chocolate bars. Developed by George Cadbury Jr, it was the
first time a British company had been able to mass-produce milk chocolate. From the beginning,
it had the distinctive purple wrapper. It was a great sales success, and became the company's best
selling product by 1914. The stronger Bournville Cocoa line was introduced in 1906. Cadbury
Dairy Milk and Bournville Cocoa were to provide the basis for the company's rapid pre-war
expansion. In 1910, Cadbury sales overtook those of Fry for the first time.

Cadbury's Milk Tray was first produced in 1915 and continued in production throughout the
remainder of the First World War. More than 2,000 of Cadbury's male employees joined
the British Armed Forces, and to support the British war effort, Cadbury provided chocolate,
books and clothing to the troops. George Cadbury handed over two company-owned buildings
for use as hospitals – "The Beeches" and "Fircroft", and the management of both hospitals
earned the War Office's highest award. Factory girls, dubbed 'The Cadbury Angels', volunteered
to do the laundry of injured soldiers recovering in the hospitals. After the war,
the Bournville factory was redeveloped and mass production began in earnest. In 1918, Cadbury
opened their first overseas factory in Hobart, Tasmania.

Cadbury Wharf, Knighton, Staffordshire. It was operated by Cadbury between 1911 and 1961 to
process locally collected milk and produce "chocolate crumb" which was transported to
Cadbury's in Bournville.

In 1919, Cadbury merged with J. S. Fry & Sons, another leading British chocolate manufacturer,
resulting in the integration of well-known brands such as Fry's Chocolate Cream and Fry's
Turkish Delight. In 1921, the many small Fry's factories around Bristol were closed down, and
production was consolidated at a new Somerdale Factory, outside Bristol.

Cadbury expanded its product range with Flake (1920), Creme eggs (1923), Fruit and

Nut (1928), and Crunchie (1929, originally under the Fry's label). By 1930, Cadbury was the
24th-largest British manufacturing company as measured by estimated market value of
capital. Cadbury took direct control of the under-performing Fry in 1935. Dairy Milk Whole Nut
arrived in 1933, and tins of Roses were introduced in 1938. Roses has become a very popular
Christmas (and Mother's Day) gift.

Chocolate ceased to be a luxury product and became affordable to the working classes for the
first time. By the mid-1930s, Cadbury estimated that 90 percent of the British population could
afford to buy chocolate. By 1936, Dairy Milk accounted for 60 percent of the UK milk chocolate
market.
During World War II, parts of the Bournville factory were turned over to war work,
producing milling machines and seats for fighter aircraft. Workers ploughed football fields to
plant crops. As chocolate was regarded as an essential food, it was placed under government
supervision for the entire war. The wartime rationing of chocolate ended in 1950, and normal
production resumed. Cadbury subsequently invested in new factories and had an increasing
demand for their products. In 1952 the Moreton factory was built.

Cadbury has been a holder of a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II since 1955. In 1967,
Cadbury acquired an Australian confectioner, MacRobertson's, beating a rival bid from Mars. As
a result of the takeover, Cadbury built a 60 percent market share in the Australian market.

Schweppes merger (1969)

The Cadbury Schweppes logo used until the demerger in 2008

Cadbury merged with drinks company Schweppes to form Cadbury Schweppes in 1969. Head of

Schweppes, Lord Watkinson, became chairman, and Adrian Cadbury became deputy chairman
and managing director. The benefits of the merger were to prove elusive.

The merger put an end to Cadbury's close links to its Quaker founding family and its perceived
social ethos by instilling a capitalist venturer philosophy in management.

In 1978, the company acquired Peter Paul, the third largest chocolate manufacturer in the United
States for $58 million, which gave it a 10 percent share of the world's largest confectionery
market. The highly successful Wispa chocolate bar was launched in the North East of England in
1981, and nationwide in 1984. In 1982, trading profits were greater outside of Britain than in the
UK for the first time.

In 1986, Cadbury Schweppes sold its Beverages and Foods division to a management
buyout known as Premier Brands for £97 million. This saw the company divest itself of such
brands as Typhoo Tea, Kenco, Smash and Hartley Chivers jam. The deal also saw Premier take
the licence for production of Cadbury brand biscuits and drinking chocolate.

Meanwhile, Schweppes switched its alliance in the UK from Pepsi to Coca-Cola, taking a 51
percent stake in the joint venture Coca-Cola Schweppes. The acquisition of Canada Dry doubled
its worldwide drinks market share, and it took a 30 percent stake in Dr Pepper. As a result of
these acquisitions, Cadbury Schweppes became the third largest soft drinks manufacturer in the
world. In August 1988, the company sold its U.S. confectionery operations to Hershey's for
$284.5 million cash plus the assumption of $30 million in debt.
In 1999, Cadbury Schweppes sold its worldwide beverage businesses to The Coca-Cola
Company except in North America and continental Europe for $700 million.

Snapple, Mistic and Stewart's (formerly Cable Car Beverage) were sold by Triarc to Cadbury
Schweppes in 2000 for $1.45 billion. In October of that same year, Cadbury Schweppes
purchased Royal Crown from Triarc. In 2003, Cadbury Schweppes acquired Adams, the US
chewing gum operations of Pfizer Inc., for $4.2 billion, making Cadbury the world's biggest
confectionery company. In 2005, Cadbury Schweppes acquired Green & Black's for £20 million.

Schweppes demerger

In March 2007, it was revealed that Cadbury Schweppes was planning to split its business into
two separate entities: one focusing on its main chocolate and confectionery market; the other on
its US drinks business. The demerger took effect on 2 May 2008, with the drinks business
becoming Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Cadbury Schweppes plc becoming Cadbury plc. In
December 2008 it was announced that Cadbury was to sell its Australian beverage unit to Asahi
Breweries.

2007–2010

Cadbury's Somerdale Factory located in Keynsham near Bristol, south west England (1921–

2010)

Cadbury’s sign at Somerdale

In October 2007, Cadbury announced the closure of the Somerdale Factory, in Keynsham,

Somerset, formerly part of Fry's. Between 500 and 700 jobs were affected by this change.
Production transferred to other plants in England and Poland.
In 2008, Monkhill Confectionery, the Own Label trading division of Cadbury Trebor Bassett was
sold to Tangerine Confectionery for £58 million cash. This sale included factories at Pontefract,
Cleckheaton and York and a distribution centre near Chesterfield, and the transfer of around 800
employees.

In mid-2009, Cadbury replaced some of the cocoa butter in their non-UK chocolate products
with palm oil. Despite stating this was a response to consumer demand to improve taste and
texture, there was no "new improved recipe" claim placed on New Zealand labels. Consumer
backlash was significant from environmentalists and chocolate lovers in both Australia and New
Zealand, with consumers objecting to both the taste from the cheaper formulation, and the use of
palm oil given its role in the destruction of rainforests. By August 2009, the company announced
that it was reverting to the use of cocoa butter in New Zealand and Australia, although palm oil
is still listed as an ingredient in Cadbury's flavoured sugar syrup based fillings (where it referred
to as 'vegetable oil'). In addition, Cadbury stated they would source cocoa beans through Fair
Trade channels. In January 2010 prospective buyer Kraft pledged to honour Cadbury's
commitment.