FROM THE DIE HARD CHOCOMANTIC
Few childhoods have survived without a dash of Cadbury’s in it. And as an adult, the love for this brand of chocolates continues…Recently, Cadbury’s launched its new flavour by the name Paan-jeer and it aptly signifies the commitment of the brand to build upon its business further in India.
Last night, as I took a bite of ‘paan-jeer’, the question popped up in my head – what’s so special about this brand that it has been able to maintain its place on the supermarket shelves as well as in the hearts of people so consistently, while other brands continue to struggle. The answer may lie in its roots.
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CHOCOLATY HISTORY
The story of chocolate starts with the Olmec civilisation in Mexico, who reportedly used the cocoa fruits to create a ceremonial drink. The knowledge of cocoa beans was then passed on to the Central American Mayans who not only consumed chocolate but deeply revered it and it was enjoyed with almost every meal.
The Importance of Cocoa in the Mayan Culture
In its drink form, cacao was consumed during “ceremonies to seal important social contracts and confirm Cacao was consumed during ceremonies to seal important social contracts and confirm the legitimacy of dynasties . Moreover, the use of cacao beverages did not only exist in worldly rituals. Mayan glyphs and art show that the Gods also used cacao beverages to honour guests in divine rituals .
When it comes to revering chocolate, it was the Aztecs who took it to an entirely new level by treating chocolate as a currency to buy food and goods. It then became an upper class extravagance although the lower classes continued to enjoy it on weddings or celebrations.
While there are conflicting versions of how chocolate arrived in Europe, one thing that’s for certain is that it first arrived in Spain which started importing chocolate around 1585. As other countries started exploring and visiting the South American continent, the chocolate craze began to spread in Europe.
The advent of chocolate in Europe began to change the very flavour of it as the Europeans didn’t like it in its concentrated form and hence made their own varieties of hot chocolate with cane sugar, cinnamon and other common spices and flavourings and eventually big chocolate houses propped up in London, Amsterdam and other European cities.
If you think chocolate, you think Cadbury!
The two have been so synonymous in our minds
that a history of chocolate must include
an academic pursuit into how
the iconic brand Cadbury’s itself began!
THE DAIRY MILK
The origin of Cadbury’s can be traced back to a city called Birmingham located in the Midlands of England, UK. During this period, Quakers were forbidden to attend a university or to join the army, leaving trade or business as the only viable option to earn a livelihood. It was 1824 when John Cadbury – a quaker – who believed that one of the main causes of poverty in England was alcohol, decided to open a shop which sold tea and coffee. Cadbury wanted his shop to make people think twice about buying alcohol, and instead opt for the better beverages which he produced. Soon he introduced a new sideline – cocoa and drinking chocolate, which he prepared himself using a mortar and pestle.
By 1842, John was selling 11 types of Cocoa, alongside 16 different varieties of drinking chocolate.
That was the time when Benjamin Cadbury decided to join his brother’s flourishing business and the trading name Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham was born. As the sales grew, Cadbury brothers turned their focus to the production of chocolate
1850 was a significant year for the Cadbury Brothers. John’s son Richard joined the family business in that year. Just eleven years later John Cadbury would retire from business due to poor health. Also, in that very year (1850) Taxes on imported cocoa beans were reduced by the Prime Minister, Gladstone. This was a turning point for the cocoa and chocolate industry, bringing these products within the reach of a wider section of the population.
In the year 1854, Cadbury Brothers received their first Royal Warrant on February 4, as ‘manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate to Queen Victoria.
In 1879, John Cadbury’s sons Richard and George opened a major factory in the purpose-built suburb of Bournville, four miles south of Birmingham.
By 1899, the first milk chocolate had been marketed, and their Birmingham factory was working overtime to innovate and introduce new chocolate flavours. Almost 3,000 new members of staff were employed in order to run the factory and help with the production of confectionery. By now, Cadbury had grown into a private limited company: Cadbury Brothers Limited. The Bournville factory had trebled in size, with more than 2,600 employees.
The undaunting rise of the Cadbury business can be attributed to the values close to the Quakers. Cadbury’s treatment of all humankind as equal, and their complete reliance on conscience as the basis of morality helped them build a loyalty, not only amongst their patrons and consumers, but also with their employees and workers.
… if each man could have his own house, a large garden to cultivate and healthy surroundings – then, I thought, there will be for them a better opportunity of a happy family life.
– GEORGE CADBURY
In 1900, George Cadbury founded Bournville Village Trust. This included 330 acres of land, providing spacious and sanitary houses. All workers, men and women, were given holidays with pay and were included in the company pension scheme. By 1910, the number of employees at Bournville had grown to 5,300.
For more iconic pictures from the Bournville village trust and an insight into the visionary genius of Cadbury, visit this page.
THE DAIRY MILK IS BORN
In 1905, the iconic Dairy Milk was born. In 1904, George Cadbury was given the challenge to develop a milk chocolate bar with more milk than anything else on the market. A customer’s daughter in the UK suggested the name ‘Dairy Milk’, and Cadbury Dairy Milk was launched in June 1905.
By 1912, Cadbury’s had become a public company. A second factory was set up in Gloucestershire. This meant that both factories were situated by canals, ensuring economical transportation.
During the First World War, over 2,000 male employees from Cadbury group joined the armed forces and Cadbury sent books, warm clothes and chocolate to the front. Cadbury even augmented the Government allowances to its workers’ dependants.
At the end of the war, soldiers were taken care of: returning to work; being sent on educational courses; or being looked after in convalescent homes.
When the war was fully over, Cadbury decided to open its first ever factory outside of the UK, choosing Tasmania as its destination. In 1919, Company became British Cocoa and Chocolate with a capital of £2.5 million.
During the Second World War too, the company supported the troops and their family members whole heartedly. The Cadbury St. John’s Ambulance unit housed many injured and wounded soldiers, while the factory was made into somewhat of a manufacturing unit for pilot seats and other equipment which was needed. Some of the staff helped to plant crops around the area so that more food could be sent to the troops, and Cadbury’s chocolate itself was considered an essential, not only with families around the United Kingdom, but also for the troops who were fighting overseas. This promoted the brand further afield and around the world, making Cadbury even more popular.
INTERNATIONAL CADBURY ADS
Dairy Milk has always tried to keep a strong association with milk, with slogans such as “a glass and a half of full cream milk in every half pound” and advertisements that feature a glass of milk pouring out and forming the bar. A campaign for the Fruit & Nut variety – everyone’s a fruit and nutcase – was particularly memorable and featured the writer, radio and television personality Frank Muir.
On 9 March 1976, American singer Neil Diamond performed a concert televised throughout Australia during which he did a humorous live commercial for Dairy Milk. This concert, including the ad as a bonus selection, was released on DVD on 1st July 2008.
In 2004, Cadbury’s started a series of television advertisements in the United Kingdom and Ireland featuring a person and an animal representing the person’s happiness debating whether to eat one of a range of bars including Dairy Milk.
In 2005, Cadbury’s original Dairy Milk bar celebrated its 100th birthday, being first sold in 1905. It remains the UK’s biggest selling chocolate brand. Dairy Milk is sold in the United States under the Cadbury label, but it is manufactured by the Hershey’s company in Pennsylvania.
In 2007, Cadbury’s launched a new advertising campaign entitled Gorilla, from a new in-house production company called Glass And A Half Full Productions. The advert was premièred during the season finale of Big Brother 2007, and consists of a gorilla at a drum kit, drumming along to the Phil Collins song “In The Air Tonight”. It is supposed to relate the joy of playing drums to that of eating a chocolate bar. The advert has now become extremely popular with over two million views on Youtube, and has put the Phil Collins hit back into the UK charts.
On 28 March 2008, the second Dairy Milk advert produced by Glass and a Half Full Productions aired. It features several trucks at night on an empty runway at a Mexican airport racing to the tune of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”. The ad campaign ran at the same time as the problems at Heathrow Terminal 5 with baggage handling; in the advert baggage was scattered across the runway. On 5 September 2008, the Gorilla advert was relaunched with a new soundtrack –Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” – a reference to online mash-ups of the commercial. Similarly, a version of the truck advert appeared, using Bon Jovi’s song “Livin’ on a Prayer”.
Changing Hands
In 1969, Cadbury partnered together with Schweppes, a popular manufacturer of soft drinks and tonic water. In 2010, the huge Kraft Foods company bought Cadbury for a staggering $19 billion. Kraft Foods split into two companies in 2012, one of which was Mondelez International. This became the part of the company which was responsible for confectionery, so Cadbury fell under this.
ADVENT IN INDIA
Cadbury’s journey with chocolate lovers in India began in 1948. Cadbury was incorporated in India on July 19th, 1948 as a private limited company under the name of Cadbury-Fry (India). Cadbury Bournvita was launched during the same year. From a treat for kids, chocolates began to be positioned near meal substitutes, thanks to the initiative taken by Cadbury India during early nineties.
The reposting of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk in 1994 as the ‘real taste of life (through the Slice of Life and Cricket commercial by Ogilvy and Mather) grew the entire milk chocolate market by 20%, and gave the Cadbury’s range – 5 Star, Gems, Éclairs, Fruit & Nut, Crackle, Nutties, Butterscotch & Tiffns – a new lease of life. In other words, it facilitated the repositioning of Cadbury’s sub brands in the basket.
The present
Mondelez India has launched limited-edition Cadbury Dairy Milk bars in which the company’s logo will be replaced by the words “Thank You” to recognise the efforts of the nation’s unsung heroes amid the coronavirus crisis. This is the first time that the Cadbury Dairy Milk logo has been changed in the 70 years since the now-beloved chocolate bar was launched in India. The limited-edition bars are being launched as a way to express gratitude to people who have been working tirelessly amid the COVID pandemic.
The history of our love for Chocolate spans over many many centuries and every generation spawns a new brood of chocolate lovers…Most of them are ardent loyalists of this Purple and Gold wrapped chocolate. – The Cadbury Dairy Milk! Over the years, Cadbury has gone astronomically beyond its simple promise of purity and taste …and holds the hopes, loves, traditions, values, aspirations and fervour of millions of people worldwide!
This is how the Dairy Milk packaging has changed over the years!
FOODOLOGICS 
My dad was an Aussie and he LOVED his Cadbury’s. The Fruit & Nuts were his favorites.
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Oh yes! Cadbury is the best! I love the all Cadbury eggs at Easter time here. Filled with chocolate, caramel and white cream with a yellow center!!! ❤️
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