CADBURY'S CHOCOLATE

Bournville

Birmingham

Out of all the pages on this website it gives me the greatest pleasure to publish this web page.

My father's families first home was in Oxford Street, Stirchley, Birmingham, a tunnel back, built around 1905 on a greenfield site. It had a very small garden which ended with a very high railway & canal embankment. On the other side of the embankment was the greatest chocolate factory in the world, Cadbury's! My grandfather moved to Stirchley from near Bromsgrove to find work around 1905,his brother soon followed and also worked at Cadbury.

At one stage most of the family worked for Cadbury. My Father was a cocoa stirrer after being demobbed from the RAF at the end of the war. Cocoa stirring was very hard physical work so he must have been glad to move with my mother to their new house in South Yardley and start work for Lucas in Shaftsmoor Lane. My Grandfather was a foreman with the department known as the Unloader's. on Cadbury's own rail system (see the photograph above) within the works. I have in front of me my Grandfathers gold watch which he received in 1946 for 40 years service. My aunt Gwen worked in the wages office as a comp operator for 37 years and my grandfather finished after 43 years.

As a child I attended sports days at Bournville and went with my father to the Cadbury Lido at Rowheath which had a water slide, which was pretty rare in those days, sadly the Lido site was demolished and filled in.

Best of all I remember  the 'waste' which were the dropped or slightly damaged chocolates that the workers brought home in special brown bags, l was always keen to help with the prevention of waste!

I was very jealous at school when one of my classmates, James Doyle, won a Cadbury competition for naming a chocolate, ' Raspberry Dreams'. he never even shared any of the chocolates he won with us!

Of course its obvious that my interest would be in Cadbury but there is one other important factor. Without any doubt in my mind Cadbury produce the best chocolate in the world and believe you me I have put on a few pounds in the name of research! If you are viewing this site from abroad, and love chocolate as much as I do, I would urge you to taste the uniqueness of Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate, it really is top quality and there is no other chocolate that compares with it.

Cadbury is still one of Birmingham's largest employers, it was founded on the principle of  social responsibility and was a model for the welfare of workers.

It continues in that tradition today and is still one of Birmingham's greatest industries.

Below is the history of Cadbury reproduced with permission from Cadbury (I hope).

Before you look at, I have a message for Cadbury--Please bring back the AZTEC bar!

John Cadbury was one of ten children of Richard Tapper Cadbury, a prominent Quaker who had moved to Birmingham from the West Country in 1794. In 1824, when he opened his  shop at 93 Bull Street (in the then fashionable part of Birmingham), John was only 22 and had previously been apprenticed to a tea dealer in Leeds.

The shop was next door to his father's drapery and silk business and apart from selling tea and coffee, John Cadbury sold hops, mustard and a new sideline - cocoa and drinking chocolate, which he prepared himself using a mortar and pestle.

Cocoa and drinking chocolate had been introduced into England in the 1650s and had remained a luxury enjoyed by the elite of English society. Customers at John Cadbury's shop were amongst the most prosperous Birmingham families - the only ones who could afford to buy cocoa and chocolate. Swiss and French chocolate was considered to be the best but John was determined to make his chocolate better than anyone else's

In those days cocoa beans were imported from South and Central America and the West Indies. Experimenting with his mortar and pestle, John Cadbury produced a range of cocoa and chocolate drinks, the latter having sugar added. The products were sold in blocks: customers then scraped a little off into a cup or saucepan and added hot milk or water.

John Cadbury had a considerable flare for advertising and promotion. His first advertisement in the Birmingham Gazette on 1st March 1824 presents his new sideline succinctly: 

"John Cadbury is desirous of introducing to particular notice 'Cocoa Nibs', prepared by himself, an article affording a most nutritious beverage for breakfast."

He soon established himself as one of the leading Birmingham tradesmen. A plate glass window (instead of the usual 'bottle glass' panes) attracted considerable attention, as did the Chinaman in national costume presiding over the counter. John's attention to detail and pursuit of excellence made him stand out amongst other traders within Birmingham. His high standards also continued in the way he treated and valued his staff.

Growing sales of John Cadbury's cocoa and drinking chocolate of 'superior quality' determined the future of the business.

In 1831 a small factory was rented - an old malthouse in Crooked Lane - and John Cadbury became a manufacturer of drinking chocolate and cocoa, the real foundation of the Cadbury manufacturing business.

The earliest cocoa bean products were 'balanced' by mixing the ground cocoa with potato starch and sago to absorb the excess cocoa butter: other ingredients added to give healthy properties to the drinks.

By 1842 John Cadbury was selling sixteen sorts of drinking chocolate and eleven cocoas. The earliest preserved price list shows drinking chocolate in cakes and powder with names such as Churchman's chocolate, Spanish chocolate, and Fine Brown chocolate with cocoa in powder, flakes and cocoa nibs including granulated cocoa, Iceland Moss, Pearl and Homeopathic cocoas. The land that factory site was on was needed for the new tunnel for the Great Western Railway into Snow Hill and the company found larger accomodation in 1847 at Bridge Street just off Broad Street.

Although they'd worked in their father's business for some years, when Richard and George Cadbury they took over the business at the ages of 25 and 21, the prospects were daunting. Their first five years were incredibly hard work, with few customers, long hours and frugal living. Both brothers considered taking up other vocations: Richard as a surveyor in England and George as a tea planter in India.

George was more concerned with manufacturing and Richard with selling, but both brothers in their early days went out and promoted their goods amongst the trade.

The dedication and hard work of the two young Cadbury brothers, and the improvement of the quality of Cadbury cocoa products, helped the business survive and prosper.

The turning point came in 1866 when the introduction of a new cocoa bean processing technique enabled Cadbury Brothers to market a new cocoa essence: "Absolutely Pure - Therefore Best".

Dissatisfied with the quality of cocoa products produced by all manufacturers, including their own, the brothers took a momentous step in 1866, which had a bearing on their future prosperity and changed the British cocoa business.

Until that time English cocoa had been heavily adulterated with starchy substances like potato flour or sago to mask the excess cocoa butter. The cocoa drink, as described by George Cadbury himself, was a 'comforting gruel'.

Following a visit to the Van Houten factory in Holland, they introduced a new process for pressing cocoa butter from cocoa beans to their Bridge Street factory. A much more palatable cocoa essence was produced - the forerunner of the cocoa we know today.

Cadbury's new cocoa essence was extensively advertised as "Absolutely Pure… Therefore Best" and trade and medical opinion endorsed the new pure product. It was the marketing of this cocoa essence that helped to turn the small business, salvaged by the supreme efforts of two brothers, into the vast worldwide company that Cadbury is today.

At that time there was concern in Parliament about the adulteration of food, and a bill passed in 1860 hadn't prevented the adulteration of cocoa. The new pure unadulterated Cadbury's cocoa essence was heralded as a major breakthrough and led to the passing of the Adulteration of Foods Acts in 1872 and 1875. Cadbury received a remarkable amount of free publicity during the discussions, and sales increased dramatically.

The introduction of cocoa essence wasn't the only innovation that improved the Cadbury Brothers' trade: the plentiful supply of cocoa butter remaining after the cocoa was pressed made it possible to produce a wide variety of new kinds of 'eating chocolate'.

Cadbury's 'fancy chocolates' (or assortments) were sold in decorated boxes with small pictures that children could cut out to stick into scrapbooks.

Richard Cadbury, who had considerable artistic talents, set out to introduce more ambitious and attractive designs from his own paintings: many of his original boxes still exist. Using his own children as models, or depicting flowers and scenes from holiday journeys, he introduced the first British made fancy chocolate boxes. These proved to be popular, helping both the Cadbury business and the confectionery trade in general.

Elaborate chocolate boxes were prized by the late Victorians as special gifts, to be used as trinket or button boxes once the fancy chocolates had been eaten: designs therefore had after-use very much in mind. Designs ranged from superb velvet covered caskets with bevelled mirrors and silk lined jewel boxes, to pretty boxes with pictures of kittens, landscapes or attractive girls on the lid.

Their popularity continued until their disappearance during the 1939-45 war: Victorian and Edwardian chocolate boxes are now treasured collectors' items.

In the 1870s the quality of the chocolates produced by the company following the introduction of the cocoa press helped Cadbury break the monopoly French producers previously enjoyed in the British market.

Following Richard Cadbury's death at the age of 63 in 1899, the business became a private limited company: Cadbury Brothers Limited.

George Cadbury became Chairman of the new Board. His fellow directors were Barrow and William A. Cadbury (sons of Richard) and two of his own sons, Edward and George Cadbury Junior.

By 1899, the Bournville factory had trebled in size, with more than 2,600 employees. With the formation of the limited company, Bournville entered an era of scientific management as the younger members of the Board introduced new ideas: analytical laboratories, advertising and cost offices, a sales department, works committee, medical department, pension funds, education and training for employees.

The Bournville factory site became a 'series of factories within a factory', as everything needed for the business was produced on site, with tin box pressing plants, carton making units, a design studio and printing plant.

This policy continued until after the second world war, when the rationalisation of the business to its primary activity - production and marketing of chocolate confectionery - led to the use of outside specialised suppliers for all ancillary items.

Milk chocolate for eating was first made by Cadbury in 1897 by adding milk powder paste to the dark chocolate recipe of cocoa mass, cocoa butter and sugar. By today's standards this chocolate was not particularly good: it was coarse and dry and not sweet or milky enough for public tastes.

There was a great deal of competition from continental manufacturers, not only the French with their fancy chocolates but also the Swiss, renowned for their milk chocolate.

Led by George Cadbury Junior, the Bournville experts set out to meet the challenge. A considerable amount of time and money was spent on research and on new plant designed to produce the chocolate in larger quantities.

A recipe was formulated incorporating fresh milk, and production processes were developed to produce a milk chocolate 'not merely as good as, but better than' the imported milk chocolate.

Four years of hard work were invested in the project and in 1905 what was to be Cadbury's top selling brand was launched. Three names were considered: Jersey, Highland Milk and Dairy Maid. Dairy Maid became Dairy Milk, and Cadbury's Dairy Milk, with its unique flavour and smooth creamy texture, was ready to challenge the Swiss domination of the milk chocolate market.

By 1913 it had become the company's best selling line and in the mid twenties Cadbury's Dairy Milk gained its status as the brand leader, a position it has held ever since.

Today more than 250 million bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk are made every year and sales reach more than £250 million in value.

While advertising and label design have changed with fashions and considerable strides have been made in manufacturing techniques, the recipe for Cadbury Dairy Milk, with its 'glass and a half of full cream milk in every half pound produced', is still basically the same as when it was launched.
 

Milk Tray has maintained its popularity since the milk chocolate assortment - made with Cadbury's Dairy Milk - was first introduced in 1915.

The name 'Tray' derived from the way in which the original assortment was delivered to the shops. Originally Milk Tray was packed in five and a half pound boxes, arranged on trays from which it was sold loose to customers.

The half-pound deep-lidded box with the traditional purple background and gold script was introduced in 1916, followed by the one-pound box in 1924.

With its stylish, no frills presentation, Milk Tray was the assortment for everyday, not just special occasions, and represented the best buy in chocolates for millions of people. The pack design has been regularly updated and the assortment itself has changed in line with consumer preferences.

By the mid-thirties the Cadbury's Milk Tray assortment was outselling all its competitors. Today it is still one of the most popular boxes of chocolates in this country.

Cadbury today

Cadbury is the clear leader in the UK chocolate confectionery market, with over 50 brands and 350 packs.

Always in the forefront of production developments, Cadbury has introduced the most advanced processing technology and management information control techniques to its business.

Four main processing and production sites in the UK employ approximately 4,500 people. The 60-acre site at Bournville, home of Cadbury, employs almost 3,000 people, and is one of the most up-to-date food production sites in the world. Moulded chocolate bars like Cadbury Dairy Milk and Fruit & Nut are produced in one factory on site, while the Bournville 'assortments factory' makes Milk Tray, Roses and Easter Eggs.

Each week the Bournville site alone produces in excess of 1,800 tonnes of chocolate: 1.6 million bars of various sizes.  Every day of the week it produces 50 million individual chocolates such as Hazelnut Whirls and Almond Clusters and over 1 million Cadbury Creme Eggs.

The Somerdale factory near Bristol, which employs around 750 people, produces countline bars of chocolate, such as Double Decker, Crunchie and Fry's Turkish.

At Chirk in North Wales, one of the world's most modern cocoa processing plants, around 200 employees process about 50,000 tonnes of cocoa beans a year.

The Marlbrook milk processing plant in Herefordshire employs 80 people processing fresh, liquid milk for milk chocolate.

Continuing modernisation at Bournville has involved the rationalisation of production, concentrating individual product processing with the introduction of the most modern processing and control technology. Specialised machinery comes from both Britain and abroad and many of these machines have been produced to Cadbury's design and specification. Production processes are now routinely supervised by one person, from a control room full of computer terminals and screens.

Plants operate 24 hours a day, producing Cadbury products to the highest standards of quality control. The Cadbury Bubbly plant produces bars with such precision that the tiny air bubbles in the chocolate are within 0.2-0.3 mm of each other. Individual microprocessors monitor factors such as temperature at about 1,000 points in the plant, feeding information to central computers, which can deal with 360,000 instructions a minute.

The Creme Egg Plant produces more than 400 million eggs a year, at the rate of 70,000 per hour.

The latest packing system for Cadbury Roses sorts the fifteen different units into the containers at the right weight and correct proportions, in a completely automated process.

_____________________________________________________________________________

If you are visiting Birmingham, be sure to visit Cadbury but be also sure to taste some of their products!

 Map to Cadbury World

A link to the official Cadbury site is on the links page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note web page colour not finalised yet