Today we digress from Inveraray Castle to talk about how the Cadbury’s, known for their affliction for chocolate, became the chocolatier pioneers we know them to be.

The Chocolate Cadburys

John Cadbury, the one to start this whole venture, was a practicing Quaker and was born into a fairly wealthy family in 1801. After working in a Tea shop in Leeds for a bit, John’s father lent him the money to open his own grocery store right next door to their house in 1824. Seems like a win-win to me. But from this early family business would grow to be one of the largest chocolate companies in the world.

And with his brother on board, they started to expand. A luxury item that the brothers sold was drinking chocolate, that John would prepare by hand himself with the use of a mortar and pestle. Because the process of making the drinking chocolate and how expensive it was to import the cocoa beans, meant that really only the rich could afford the luxurious liquid chocolate.

But John’s whole idea behind selling the drinking chocolate was that he believed that one day in the near future, drinking chocolate, coffee and tea could be seen as an alternative to alcohol, which he believed was the cause of poverty among the addicted. John was of the belief that by people turning to a safer option, such as his drinking chocolate, meant that they would be pulled out of poverty and would be able to account for their drinking sins. But in order for this to happen, it needed to happen on a much larger scale, and that meant getting the chocolate mass produced.

As 1831 rolled around, John was able to expand to a warehouse four storey’s tall and started the process of commercially producing his range of drinking chocolates.

As the years rolled on, John expanded his line of drinking chocolates, and about a decade later in 1842, he was selling around 16 different types of drinking chocolate and had 11 different cocoas for sale.

As they continued to go from strength to strength, the Cadbury brothers were able to move to a newer, larger factory in 1847, which was better connected to the canal, meaning they had better access to all the major British ports at the time. And even better for the brothers the taxes on importing cocoa were cut, meaning that it wasn’t so expensive anymore, and the end product, the drinking chocolate, almost immediately became more affordable for the masses.

What’s really interesting about this, is that before 1849 chocolate was only really available in the form of drinking chocolate, think like a hot chocolate but a bit thicker. The idea of ‘eating’ the chocolate wasn’t really a popular option, chocolate in its raw form is very very bitter, the brothers hadn’t quite figured out that sugar in this instance would be their best friend.

But good things were to come, because in 1854 Queen Vic gave them their first Royal Warrant, which meant that Cadbury was now a brand with Royal approval.

But just as everything seems to be going great guns for John, his second wife dies. Plunged into a deep depression, John just can’t continue his work with his company, so in 1860, he and his brother end their partnership, and with the business having taken a turn and now losing money, he handed the business over to his two sons, Richard and George.  

Now with Richard and George at the helm, they set about dividing the tasks of running a pretty sizeable company between the two of them. So the plan was for the more artistic Richard to focus on marketing and sales, and George would be the one sorting out manufacturing. But the company as in a bad way and for the next five years it was on the verge of bankruptcy. But they just couldn’t let it go, so they pushed on funding the company themselves.

In 1866, the brothers decided to invest in refining the cocoa. They just weren’t happy with how the whole manufacturing process went about things and thought that the quality of cocoa products could be so much better. Up until now, the cocoa in England had been super starchy. But on a visit to Holland their eyes were opened to the European way which showed them a new way to press the chocolate that extracted the delicious cocoa butter. By investing in this new machinery, they were able to be the company producing the most deliciously tasting chocolate in England, and the Cadbury Cocoa Essence was advertised as

Absolutely Pure – Therefore Best.

It’s almost certain that it was this turn of events that became the saviour of the struggling business. And they wouldn’t stop until they became the massive international company that we know them to be today.

Up until now French chocolate had been the way to go, but with their new chocolate and new campaign, they managed to push the French back to the continent. And with their first chocolate boxes, thought up by Richard, they took over the market in England. And things only get better from there. In 1875, the first Cadbury Easter Egg was sold, originally the eggs were made of dark chocolate and filled with sugared almonds, so quite a different kind of egg than what we know today.

As we get around to 1899, Richard dies suddenly and unexpectedly. But he did not go without leaving his mark. To go from inheriting a company constantly on the verge of bankruptcy, to a factory that had grown to more than 3 times its original size and employed 2600 workers. That’s quite an achievement.

The company name was changed to ‘Cadbury Brothers Limited’, and a new generation came on to continue to grow the business through new ideas like analytical labs and assembly lines.

Redesigning the work/life balance

The Cadbury family have been known as:

Pioneers of good business, putting people and communities at the heart of the way they made and sold their chocolate.

And while when you hear ‘Cadbury’ you might instantly think of chocolately goodness, the family has actually been super philanthropic the whole time, especially where their workers and profits are concerned.

As 1878 rolls around the company had outgrown the factory they occupied in Birmingham. Their worker numbers were rising and in order to keep expanding and growing they needed more room, so they started looking for a new place. But they wanted to do something a little different and better to what everyone else was doing, and they really couldn’t stand the dark and dangerous factories that were popping up thanks to the Industrial Revolution, George even described them as

Squalid and depressing.

So they thought out of the square, or at least city grid, and decided that out in the countryside where you could breathe fresh, clean air instead of pollution was the way to go. Here’s what George thought about the move:

No man ought to be condemned to live in a place where a rose cannot grow.

What a visionary.

George also posed the question:

If the country is a good place to live in, why not work in?

And he’s not wrong there.

The brothers managed to find the perfect site in the form of Bournbrook Estate, just a couple kms south from Birmingham. They decided to give the place their own name, and their vision of what would come to be known as Bournville started to be built the following year.

But they wouldn’t just stop there, in 1893 the company would end up buying the whole of the Bournbrook Estate with the extra land put aside to be turned into parkland and sports fields for the workers and their families. The place would, quite rightly, be referred to as

The Cadbury factory in a garden.

Bournville allowed the brothers to provide a place that was safe and healthy for their employees, effectively creating the first work/life balance. And it wasn’t just the surrounds, they were provided with amenities that you just didn’t find in your average factory:

A kitchen where workers could heat up their meals, and properly heated dressing rooms where they could get changed.

These things are all but expected in almost any job you take now, but back then they were luxury extreme. And clearly it set a precedent that we can all be thankful for.

So alongside their factory, they had built a worker’s village, complete with garden beds big enough for vege patches for each house. In the extra land, football and cricket fields were drawn out and gardens with lily ponds were put in for those lovely quiet spots. By 1895, Bournville housed 143 cottages on a total of 140 acres. Quite the oasis.

But not only did they provide brilliant working and living conditions, the Cadbury company also ensured good proper wages, medical treatment if anyone got hurt, and even provided pension plans so that you wouldn’t have to worry after you retired as a Cadbury worker. They treated their employee’s amazingly well for the time and were rewarded in return.

The Cadbury Brothers turned out to be pioneers in employee welfare and were clearly unafraid to set standards which other employers ended up taking on board themselves.

They were also the first ones to introduce a half-day on Saturday, and even started to close for bank holidays.

Future generations of Cadbury leaders continued to take extra care of their employees and this respectful treatment was paid back to them in effort and profits. Which, with their Quaker background, they continued to donate a portion into causes that would help the fellow man.

Another Bournville success is that in 1906, Cadbury Dairy Milk was developed, and it become a massive hit, and is still some of the most delicious and well bought chocolate today.

Cadbury in the 20th century

Cadbury takes on quite a few things when they head into the 20th century. With their workforce highly motivated because they’re being treated like humans, they start to look to expand internationally.

In 1915 the Milk Tray is developed and becomes an affordable everyday treat to distract from your alcoholic tendencies. But the good treatment of employees didn’t end with Bournville in the early 1900s, William, Richard’s son, sets up pension funds for all Cadbury workers.

As we head into the roaring twenties, Cadbury has a change as well and goes purple, even getting its own Pantone reference number, 2685C. And the following year the logo goes cursive, replacing the previous stylised cocoa tree with the script inspired by the signature of William. And it’s still the same one we see today.

And new discoveries are still coming out of Bournville. A worker notices the excess chocolate that falls from the moulds falls in a stream, becoming flaky and folded when it dries, and the Flake is born. My favourite.

In 1928, the ‘Glass and a half’ symbol is created, because when Dairy Milk was first made in Australia, it was made with a glass and a half of fresh Aussie milk. And another aussie classic is created in 1930, Freddo Frog, was suggested over a mouse character, and Freddos have turned out to be one of Cadbury’s best-selling products in Australia, with about 90 million sold each year.

It’s not until 1943 that the board of directors welcome their first non-family member. And in 1969 the company merges with Schweppes, making them an international and global powerhouse. Not bad considering it all started with one man in one shop with a mortar and pestle in hand.

And Cadbury continues to go from strength to strength today, there’s not a supermarket in the country that doesn’t sell a Cadbury product.

It’s a real reminder that even if you start right at the beginning, if you treat your people well and work hard to improve your little corner of the world, big things can happen.

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