As Cadbury’s turns 200 the choc firm reveals its bestselling bar – and it’s not Dairy Milk
IT is one of our most-loved brands, founded by the original Willy Wonka – John Cadbury in 1824, and worth a whopping £3billion.
And to celebrate Cadbury’s 200th anniversary this week the chocolate empire opened its doors to The Sun, inviting Hayley Minn to be one of a select few to get a peek inside the factory in Bournville, Birmingham.
We were also one of the first to see Cadbury’s new archives, filled with hundreds of discontinued chocolates, and some very nostalgic packaging from years gone by.
As Cadbury has its bicentennial birthday, we reveal some of the rather sweet secrets from inside the brand – including the rather surprising bestsellers…
Best sellers
DAIRY Milk, which was launched in June 1905, remains Cadbury’s bestseller.
And its recipe, including a glass and a half of milk in every half pound of chocolate, hasn’t changed since.
However, it’s been revealed that Dairy Milk Oreo, which hit shelves in 2012, “is not far behind” when it comes to variations of the much-loved brand.
Meanwhile, Twirl is Cadbury’s most popular bar.
Super tasters
THERE is a team of “supertasters” in Reading, Berks, who help the inventors at Cadbury come up with their wonderful new creations.
The group comprises seven or eight people “with very strong tastebuds” who have been carefully selected for the job.
They are trained to properly savour chocolate and provide high-quality feedback.
Easter egg
THE hollow chocolate eggs we know and love are an absolute must at Easter – and Cadbury first brought theirs to the market in 1875.
The original sweet treat came in a pretty porcelain painted shell and was a plain, dark chocolate egg filled with sugar-coated chocolate drops.
Advertising
CADBURY has been responsible for some of the most memorable adverts of all time – who could forget the gorilla drumming to Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight?
And promoting the brand has been a priority from day one.
Company archivist Sarah Foden says it was founder John Cadbury’s grocery shop that pioneered plain windows so people could see in.
And it was John who first thought to put pictures on chocolate boxes to entice customers, painting his daughter on a tin. Everyone else soon followed.
Cadbury was the first confectionary brand to advertise on TV with a commercial for Dairy Milk.
Thankful
AS if it wasn’t enough that Cadbury created some of the best chocolate in the world, the company also invented bank holidays . . . kind of.
In 1911 it became the first firm to give employees the day off at the same time as banks.
Bosses insisted that there was no difference between factory workers and bankers.
This set the tone for other businesses to follow their lead.
Key facts
- 400m Creme eggs made a year — all sold between Boxing Day and April
- Chocolate pumped out of the factory 24 hours a day, 51 weeks per year
- More than 250,000 chocolate buttons are produced a day
The rules
MOST houses around Cadbury’s factory and offices are owned by the Bournville Village Trust, founded in 1900 by John Cadbury’s son George, with a focus on providing good-quality housing in a green environment.
Even to this day, in order to maintain Bournville’s chocolate box appearance, there are a set of rules house owners have to sign before they buy.
Residents must agree not to keep caravans, trailers or boats on their driveway and are not allowed to put up hedges, walls or fences without approval.
But the biggest surprise is every property must have fruit tree in the garden.
Royal seal
SINCE 1855 Cadbury has held a Royal Warrant. It came after Queen Victoria gave John, and his brother and business partner Benjamin Cadbury, the role of being her “manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate”.
Cadbury still holds this Royal Warrant from King Charles III.
No heirs
ALTHOUGH Cadbury is a £3billion empire now, owned by Mondelez, John, nor his family saw any of it as he was a quaker who didn’t believe in generational wealth.
He gave all his money to charities instead. The company has stuck with John’s philanthropic ways, and the Cadbury Foundation has donated £15million to good causes over the past ten years.
Surprising success
LIMITED-edition products are often launched by Cadbury, but one that came out in 2012 was so popular it stayed on the shelves.
Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations initially included cookie nut crunch, banana caramel crisp and jelly popping candy – but it is only the latter of the ingredients that remains from the original recipe.
Dave Shepherd, the associate director of research and development at Cadbury, tells us: “No one could have guessed that would have been the most successful of the flavours.”