Using expertise from abroad and with their first export order from Australia in 1881 the company prospered. Milk chocolate was introduced, the competition from Switzerland and France was matched with compatible products and those products were continually perfected until they could finally claim superiority in chocolate manufacture in both quality and taste. New recipes and experimentation created innovative new products that ensured their success.
Cadbury's moved on to become a limited company and after the death of Richard Cadbury the sons of the two brothers joined the firm headed by George Cadbury. This was very much a family business in every sense of the word.
New products followed swiftly and the business expanded. By the turn of the century the new factory employed some 2,500 workers.
Cadbury's was not just an ordinary factory. Far ahead of its time and under the direction of George Cadbury the workers were provided with housing, education and training. Pension schemes for employees and medical facilities ensured a healthy and dedicated work force. George Cadbury regarded the employees as part of his family and treated them well and with recognition for their services.
Cadbury's Dairy Milk became a household name. After the First World War the factory was redeveloped and mass production began in earnest. A merger with J S Fry and Sons in 1919 saw the integration of well known brands such as Fry's Chocolate Cream and Fry's Turkish delight which is still sold today. In 1915 Cadbury's Milk Tray followed and became a resounding success. The brand known as Roses commenced in 1938. These products became market leaders and placed Cadbury's at the forefront of world chocolate manufacture.
During the war years chocolate was regarded as an essential food and placed under the supervision of the government. After the war normal production resumed and Cadbury's went from strength to strength. More factories opened new products and new technology improved production and the insatiable demand for chocolate just grew and grew.
In 1969 the Cadbury Group merged with Schweppes. Cadbury Schweppes Plc is a leader in confectionery and soft drinks both in the UK and abroad. With factories all over the world and a host of well known brand names it has become a household name in many countries.
Cadburys Schweppes Aims:-
- Increase share prices
- Satisfy customers by meeting their demands and giving them the best quality and price
- Challenge rival companies keep up with their prices
- Make more profit
To meet these aims Cadburys Schweppes set themselves objectives
- They try to develop a good reputation by advertising heavily. Because Cadburys is an oligopoly it has quite a lot of big rivals, therefore it has to keep advertising and develop new products just to keep up with its competitors.
Cadbury Schweppes is a marketing focused company. Its success relies on satisfying the needs of its consumers. It is able to do this by continually listening to consumers and learning about their changing requirements. In response to these requirements, Cadbury Schweppes seeks to create new products, build on existing core and find new ways to to existing products.
- Cadburys Schweppes tries to increase sales and market share by always looking for new ideas in its products and packaging.
By looking for new ideas, it tries to stay ahead of competitors. After a market evaluation it tries to spot gaps in the market and fill these gaps. This will lead to customer satisfaction.
The of Cadbury's Yowie in Australia exemplifies these marketing and provides a good lesson in how to use Cause Related Marketing effectively. Yowie is an exceptionally successful product which has won a large share of the children's confectionery market in Australia. It was voted best new confectionery product in the world in 1997 by the world's grocery press. It is a value-for-money, exciting and entertaining chocolate product which is related to an important cause - the environment.
- Cadburys schweppes is a large producer of various chocolate products therefore Cadburys buy a lot of its ingredients in bulk, the advantage of this is that they would have to pay less. This helps them compete with the prices of rivals companies
Cadburys Schweppes could improve their business by targeting more of their products at adults, as most of their products are targeted at young children and teenagers.
Since the population is becoming more health conscious, in the long run demand for their products might fall. Therefore, I believe that they should diversify into healthier options.
Finally, if Cadbury Schweppes was to be moved into the public sector, then the government will have the power to increase prices of chocolates and other unhealthy products. Therefore, in the long-term demand for these products will fall.
The second business I will be investigating is the National Health Service (NHS). The National Health Service or NHS as it is more commonly known, was set up on the 5th July 1948 to provide healthcare for all citizens, based on need, not the ability to pay.
The NHS is funded by the taxpayer and managed by the Department of Health, which sets overall policy on health issues. It is the responsibility of the Department of Health to provide health services to the general public through the NHS.
It was launched as a single organisation based around 14 regional hospital boards. This new NHS was originally split into three parts:
- hospital services
- family doctors, dentists, opticians and pharmacists
- local authority health services, including community nursing and health visiting
NHS aims:-
- Prevent ill health
- Services for Patients: to organise services across our Hospitals so that all patients receive an appropriate and responsive service to assured standards of clinical care
The aims of NHS are in contrast to the aims of Cadburys. NHS is run to satisfy customers whereas Cadburys is run to make profit.
To meet these aims NHS sets themselves objectives which are:
- Reduce waiting lists, at the moment NHS is failing this objective as the average waiting time in an emergency is 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Provide satisfactory services to patients. NHS is again failing to meet this objective as there is a shortage of staff.
- Proceed with further research and development. This will help them to find cures for particular diseases.
If the NHS was to be moved to the private sector, it will create an incentive for hospitals to become more efficient because of the increase in competition. This could benefit the consumer as there will be more choice available, and the service provided will be of good quality.
However, this could be considered unfair as price will be established by the mechanism of supply and demand. Therefore, there will be some who will not be able to afford it, and some might have the incentive to delay treatment. This could then in the long term spread diseases, which will have a greater effect on the economy as a whole.
