GCSE BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

 YEAR 11 – PORTFOLIO INVESTIGATION

Cadbury’s Development

John Cadbury set up as a sole trader, selling groceries at 93 Bull Street, Birmingham in 1824.  In 1831 he changed his business and rented a small factory in Crooked Lane to start the manufacture of cocoa and drinking chocolate.  In those days cocoa and chocolate was a luxury, and affordable only by the wealthy.  He thought that drinking chocolate was an alternative to alcohol, because he felt alcohol was the cause of poverty and social ills.  This was the start of the Cadbury manufacturing business as it is known today.

In 1847, John created a partnership with his brother Benjamin Cadbury, and they rented a slightly larger factory in Bridge Street.  Benjamin and John dissolved their partnership in 1860, and John retired in 1861, leaving his sons Richard and George to run the family business.  The two brothers went to Holland and brought back a Van Houten press.  This helped them to make a new kind of cocoa.  This new cocoa was called Cadbury’s Cocoa Essence, which became very popular in England.  The press also extracted more of the cocoa than the previous press.  In 1879, they relocated to Bournbrook, which they developed and renamed Bournville.  This was unusual as most factories were in the cities, but this was in the country.  It was known as ‘the factory in a garden’.  Bournville is now a major suburb of Birmingham.

The famous Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate was first made in 1905.  This was the breakthrough of Cadbury’s, it was very popular and now they could produce more products related to the Dairy Milk.  Also Cadbury’s could now start to compete with the Swiss chocolate companies.  In 1919, Cadbury’s formed a merger with J.S Fry & Sons, and this saw the integration of Fry’s Chocolate cream and Turkish Delight which are still sold today.

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In 1969 the Cadbury Group merged with Schweppes. Cadbury Schweppes Plc is a leader in confectionery and soft drinks both in the UK and overseas. With factories all over the world and a host of well known brand names it has become a household name in many countries.

Contributing Factors

        

Cadbury’s is a very successful company because of a number of reasons.  Firstly, in 1866, when it was only a small business, The Cadbury brothers invested in new technology, in the form of the ‘Van Houten’ press.   They brought this back to England and this enabled Cadbury’s ...

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