Cadbury’s chocolate is probably the nation’s favourite and certainly best known brand of chocolate. The company dates back to 1824 when John Cadbury started selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate at his premises on Bull Street in Birmingham . John Cadbury then formed a partnership with his brother Benjamin and, by 1854, they had received a Royal Warrant to supply chocolate and cocoa to Queen Victoria . It cannot be underestimated how valuable to a company such a Royal affirmation once was. Fashionable society tended to follow trends set by royalty and these habits would gradually filter down the the lower classes.
The granting of a Royal Warrant also associates a given product or brand with the country in a patriotic way and can make a product become part of our traditions. This is just what happened with Cadburys and the company expanded rapidly on the back of this royal seal of approval. In 1893 George Cadbury purchased 120 acres of land close to the works and established a village for his workforce there, promising to eradicate the evils of modern cramped living. As the Cadbury family were Quakers, the only amenity the estate lacked was pubs - Quakers are teetotal.
Cadbury developed its first dairy milk chocolate in 1905, putting its Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate bar on sale for the first time that year. It introduced the Milk Tray selection box in 1915 and you can still purchase both of these products to this day. Both product lines remain synonymous with the Cadbury’s brand. During both wars Cadbury managed to cement its position at the heart of British society, over 2,000 of their workers went away to war in the 1914-1918 World War. In the Second World War , chocolate was put under government control as it was considered to be an essential foodstuff. That’s a policy that many chocoholics would readily agree with to this day! More recently, advertising campaigns that have included a gorilla playing drums have done much to keep this brand close to our hearts and minds.
Fears arose, however, that this Great British Institution that has a place in the hearts, and bellies of most of the population was set be Americanised. The Cadbury Plc company was fought over by American giant Kraft Foods and the number one US chocolate producer; The Hershey Company. Kraft eventually came out on top, amid fears that either of the American companies would not adhere to Cadbury’s long standing traditions. During the take-over process Kraft Foods insisted it would be business as usual after their acquisition, all the time promising they’d look after this British Institution properly. This promise was dealt a blow when key senior figures left the board only one day after the acquisition. When the new owners announced they were moving production from the Bristol factory to Poland, it seemed that the doubters fears were doubly correct.
More British Institutions
Afternoon Tea
Allotments
April Fools Day
Big Ben
Binge Drinking
Black Cabs
Bonfire Night
British Sense of Humour
Brown Windsor Soup
Burns Night
Cadburys
Castles
Changing the Guard
City of London
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Cowes Week
Cricket
Crufts
Dad’s Army
E-Type Jag
Eccentricity
English Country Garden
Fish and Chips
Fish Fingers
Fox Hunting
Full English Breakfast
Gin and Tonic
Glastonbury
Glorious Goodwood
Grand National
Grouse Shooting
Harrods
Highland Games
Hogmanay
James Bond
John Bull
King Arthur
Land Rover
Lloyds of London
London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally
Marks and Spencer
Monty Python
Morecambe and Wise
Old School Tie
Oxbridge
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Pimms
Point-to-Point
Punch and Judy
Queueing
Real Ale
Red Arrows
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Remembrance Poppies
Robin Hood
Rolls Royce
Royal Ascot
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
Savile Row Suits
School Discos
School Sports Day
Seaside Piers
Speakers’ Corner
Stag Nights
Stiff Upper Lip
Strawberries and Cream
Street Markets
Summer Festivals
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The Archers
The BBC
The Beano
The Boat Race
The Brass Band
The British Bobby
The Bulldog
The Church of England
The Cup Final
The Curry House
The English Rose
The Garden Shed
The Honours System
The Kilt
The Last Night at the Proms
The London Bus
The Mini
The National Trust
The NHS
The Oak
The Pub
The Queen’s Speech
The Rolling Stones
The Royal Christmas Message
The Spitfire
The V Sign
The Village Fete
The Weather
Travelling Fairs
Trooping the Colour
Village Greens
Wedgwood
Wellington Boots
Wimbledon
Wine Gums
Yeomen of the Guard
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