The biography of Richard Cadbury, a son of one of the chocolate industry’s founding families, who helped grow the business during the Victorian era. In 1824, John Cadbury opened a grocer’s shop in Bull Street in Birmingham and started to sell tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate alongside everything else. In 1831, he opened a factory and started to manufacture his own product, and by 1842 the company was selling almost thirty different types of drinking chocolate and cocoa. In 1861, the now floundering firm was taken over by two of his sons, Richard and George, who turned things around and continued to grow the company into the organization known around the world today. The Life of Richard Cadbury is a brand-new biography that focuses on the lesser known of the brothers, looking at the history and background behind the socialist, philanthropist, and chocolatier.

The history of the world-famous confectioner—maker of the Cadbury Creme Egg—from nineteenth-century shop to multinational brand. When John Cadbury came to Birmingham in 1824, he sold tea, coffee, and drinking chocolate in a small shop on Bull Street. Drinking chocolate was considered a healthy alternative to alcohol, something Cadbury, a Quaker, was keen to encourage. By 1879, the Cadburys were ready to make their historic move to Bournville, where they established their famous “factory in a garden,” built on the sprawling Bournbrook estate. A History of Cadbury recounts the history of this beloved British chocolatier and looks at the social impact the company has had, both on the chocolate and cocoa business and on British culture at large. This is the story of how Cadbury began, how it grew, and how it diversified in order to bring its chocolates and candies to one generation after the next.

The extraordinary and dramatic story of the chocolate pioneers—as told by one of the descendants of the Cadbury dynasty—ending with Kraft’s recent takeover of the empire. With a cast of characters straight from a Victorian novel, Chocolate Wars tells the story of the great chocolatier dynasties—the Lindts, Frys, Hersheys, Marses and Nestlés—through the prism of the Cadburys. Chocolate was consumed unrefined and unprocessed as a rather bitter, fatty drink for the wealthy elite until the late 19th century, when the Swiss discovered a way to blend it with milk and unleashed a product that would storm every market in the world. Thereafter, one of the great global business rivalries unfolded as each chocolate maker attempted to dominate its domestic market and innovate recipes for chocolate that would set it apart from its rivals. The contest was full of dramatic contradictions: the Cadburys were austere Quakers who found themselves making millions from an indulgent product; Kitty Hershey could hardly have been more flamboyant, yet her husband was moved by the Cadburys’ tradition of philanthropy. Each company was a product of its unique time and place, yet all of them shared one thing: they want to make the best chocolate in the world. Chocolate Wars divulges the visions and ideals that inspired these royal chocolate families and, above all, the mouth-watering chocolate concoctions they created that have driven a global transformation of one of our favourite treats. And with the recent purchase of Cadbury’s by mega–food manufacturer Kraft, the story is brought rapidly into the present.

A unique expose of the Cadbury story, providing an unprecedented insight into the makings of an iconic brand. Cadbury's Puple Reign for the first time tells the in-depth story and definitive history of the Cadbury brand, and how it came to be the world's pre-eminent chocolate brand. It presents a no holds barred account of the rollercoaster ride the organization has experienced that has, ultimately, led to its success. It is a story of endurance, where, in the UK, Cadbury is a clear market leader. This fascinating journey that has been the history of Cadbury makes it an ideal example with which to illuminate the story of consumerism. The company was established even before there were a mass of consumers to sell to, and was at the forefront of many of the developments which facilitated the rise of mass markets: Putting product quality at the heart of the brand. Harnessing the miracles of the Industrial and Transportation Revolutions to drive explosive growth Industry consolidation via mergers and acquisitions to cement critical mass A radical approach to harnessing the potential of its workforce to create the most effectively run company in Britain The virtuous circle of economies of scale which slashed prices and brought chocolate to the masses Innovative marketing and selling approaches that put the Cadbury brand into not just the minds of consumers, but their hearts. Illustrated with fact, anecdote and beautiful images from previously archived material, this book provides the reader with an unprecedented insight into one of the world’s most iconic brands. These insights will help any consumer business that aspire to build longevity for their brand with lessons on how to better endear itself to consumers, and how to turn that relationship into profitable sales. The book has the full backing from Cadbury and chairman Sir John Sunderland provides the foreword.

In 1901, Cadbury learned that its cocoa beans purchased from Portuguese-owned plantations on the island of Sao Tome off West Africa were produced by slave labor.