I’m the heir to £4.6bn Cadbury dynasty but never saw a penny… now I’ve made my millions thanks to Dragon’s Den
YOU’D expect someone with the surname Cadbury to have been born with a silver spoon – dripping in chocolate – in their mouth.
But that was far from the case for James Cadbury, 37, whose great-great-great grandfather John Cadbury invented Cadbury chocolate in 1824 – now worth £4.6billion.
Despite now owning £14million chocolate business Love Cocoa, James never saw a penny of his family’s money, due to them being Quakers and philanthropists.
And, in an exclusive interview, he reveals how he’s taken his family’s passion for chocolate into the new age, as well as why he turned down a £75,000 offer from Dragon’s Den after the show was aired.
“Because I’ve got the Cadbury name, people probably think my pockets are lined with money,” laughs James. “But, because my ancestors were Quakers and philanthropists, they gave a lot of money back.
“They didn’t believe in creating wealth for the family and for generations so, instead, they put the money into different charities.
“Then it was also listed on the stock exchange, so other pension funds and other companies would come in and invest so it wasn’t within the family when I grew up but it was still very close, and I was super interested in the history.
“They used to own lots of land in Birmingham, which they gave to the National Trust and all sorts of amazing things.
“They’ve still got charities going, which my family are involved in.”
School nickname
Cadbury was founded in 1824 in Birmingham, by Quaker John Cadbury, and is now the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars, thanks to its famous Dairy Milk chocolate, operating in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Cadbury was bought by American company Kraft Foods in 2010, but the chocolate is still produced at the factory in Bournville, five miles away from where James grew up.
For this reason, James grew up with a passion for Cadbury, despite not actually having a share in the company.
He tells us: “At school, l I was a little bit obsessed and quite liked that people at school picked up on Cadbury being my surname.
“Boys would curiously call me ‘Curly Wurly,’ but I always took it in good stead, found it quite funny and quite liked it.
“I also used to do lots of school projects on Cadbury so I definitely had that passion for it, and I just loved how they set it up.”
Quit finance job
Despite his passion for chocolate, James’ career path initially took him down the finance route, working for a pension fund for five years.
But he realised he wasn’t as passionate about it as he wanted to be.
He says: “I thought it was the dream job and then I got a new job, which I thought I was gonna be super happy with, but I just didn’t have as much energy as my boss.
“He was the most enthusiastic person to work with, and I thought, ‘I don’t think I’m ever going to get to the top because I’m not as passionate as the people I’m working with,’ and you’ve got to be passionate about what you do.”
Knowing he had a passion for chocolate, James quit his job seven years ago, got gardening leave, and started up his luxury chocolate business Love Cocoa with a £25,000 Virgin StartUp loan – which he’s now paid back – and £25,000 in savings.
“I really had no experience or any help from my family,” he says.
£75k Dragon’s Den offer
Love Cocoa is now worth £14million, and James is hoping to open up stores across the country very soon, with a recent £4.25million investment he received from an individual.
But James is also very grateful to Dragon’s Den, having seen his business grow rapidly since appearing on it three years ago.
He was approached by BBC producers to appear on the show, and wasn’t sure about it at first, in case his business was made to look bad, but he’s very glad he went on it now.
He says: “We did get a couple of offers and we did do a deal with Tej [Lalvani] on TV, but there’s a lot of back and forth which goes on off screen, so after negotiations, we decided that it was not something we wanted to do.
“But we left on really good terms with Tej and, after it got aired, we got lots of publicity.
“From being on the show, we picked up a few new stockists, and tripled our revenue within 18 months.
“So it was really big for us and ever since that we’ve continued to be able to grow.
“It’s a great programme to go on – it’s definitely helped the business. We’re 10 times the size now.”
Chocolate in the blood
Love Cocoa now exports to over 10 countries, and plants a tree for every chocolate bar sold.
It has now planted over 1.6 million trees, and James is hoping to launch the brand’s first store in London this year, with another six across the country over the next two years.
He’s recently also launched H!P, the UK’s first vegan oat milk chocolate, in Sainsbury’s and is in talks with other big supermarkets.
“A lot of people say that chocolate must be in the blood,” James finishes. “But there are no other family members, as far as I’m aware, who have gone into chocolate, so I’m the first which is super exciting!”