Analysis of The Cadbury company.

Authors Avatar

Unit 3        Creative Product Promotion        5/4/2007

Task 1        Elizabeth Ellen Burke

Task A

Background to business

The Cadbury’s company started manufacturing chocolate in Birmingham in 1824. It was set up by Mr. John Cadbury. In the year 1847 the company changed when John and his brother Benjamin became partners and the company became known as the Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. A year later the retail side of the business, which was allocated in Bull Street was passed to nephew, Richard Cadbury Barrow. In February 1854 the company received their first Royal warrant as ‘manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate to Queen Victoria. The company still holds the royal warrants of appointment.

In 1861 both Richard and George Cadbury took over the business when their father retired. The Cadbury brothers were dissatisfied with the quality of cocoa products that were being produced by manufacturers including their own, for this reason the brothers wished to improve the quality of Cadbury cocoa products as to help the business to survive and prosper. The brother visited to the Van Houten Factory in Holland, after the visited the Cadbury brothers, started using a new processing technique. The Cadbury brothers introduced this new process for pressing cocoa butter from cocoa beans, the process made a more palatable cocoa essence.

The company remained in Birmingham for 32 years and by then the factory had become too small for the worker force. The brothers decided that they had to move the factory to larger premises. The source of the quote below is cadburys.co.uk site.

"Why should an industrial area be squalid and depressing?"  Both brothers asked.

"Why should not the industrial worker enjoy country air and occupations without being separated from his work?"

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

In 1878 the company was move to Bournville. After the death of Richard Cadbury in 1899, the Cadbury business became a private limited company: Cadbury Brothers Limited. George Cadbury became the Chairman of the Company’s new Board. The other directors were Barrow and William A. Cadbury (sons of Richard) and George’s own two sons, Edward and George Cadbury Junior.

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

In 1919, J.S. Fry & Sons Ltd merged their financial interests with Cadbury Brothers Ltd of Bournville Birmingham forming the British Cocoa and Chocolate Company. In 1935 Fry's became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cadbury. The Somerdale committee was set up, although the factory maintained its identity as J.S. Fry & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Cadbury Group Limited, until the 1967 re-organisation of the business. In 1969 Cadbury Schweppes Limited came into being, following the merger of the Cadbury Group Ltd and Schweppes Ltd, the soft drinks company dating from 1792.

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. Cadbury's Dairy Milk gained the status of brand leader, a position it has held ever since. 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.

Milk Tray was the assortment for everyday, not just special occasions, and represented the best buy in chocolates for millions of people. 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.

Four main processing and production sites in the UK. The 60-acre site at Bournville, home of Cadbury, 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. 50 million individual chocolates such as Hazelnut Whirls and Almond Clusters and over one million Cadbury Creme Eggs and Double Decker, Crunchie and Fry's Turkish.

Cadbury now has factories all over the world. Many countries also receive their Cadbury's chocolates straight from Bournville and Somerdale. While many Cadbury products are enjoyed all over the world, some are unique to their own corner of the globe. Wherever Cadbury's chocolate is made, quality control experts ensure that the high standards of quality and taste demanded by the company are maintained. 

Today over more than 250 million bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk are made every year and the sales reach over more than £250 million in value. While advertising and label design have changed many times of the years, there also as been considerable strides  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. Cadbury is the clear leader in the UK chocolate confectionery market, with over 50 brands and 350 packs. The company is always at the forefront of production developments; Cadbury has introduced the most advanced processing technology and management information control techniques to its business.

Join now!

Aims and Objectives

Aims and objectives are important to all businesses because; aims are general board statements of the business purpose; for example: to survive, to become a market leader, and to provide an excellent service or product. Objectives are a much firmer statement of the purpose. It is said that objectives have to be SMART, this means that;

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable
  • Realistic (Relevant)
  • Time-related.

The following are examples of SMART objectives.

  • Success in meeting objectives is measurable-it will be the difference between 98%. 99% and 100%
  • A 99% success rate may be an ...

This is a preview of the whole essay