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John Cadbury, 22, opens his first grocer’s shop at 93 Bull Street, a fashionable part of Birmingham. He sells hops, mustard and a new sideline – cocoa and drinking chocolate made with cocoa beans. -
John Cadbury decides to produce on a larger scale. He rents an old warehouse in Crooked Lane, Birmingham to use as a factory.
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Cadbury is now selling 16 kinds of drinking chocolate and 11 kinds of cocoa.
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John and his brother Benjamin, who had joined the business, rent a larger factory in Bridge Street. -
John Cadbury hands the reins of the business to his sons Richard, 25, and George, 21, Cadbury due to poor health. -
Cadbury Brothers purchase the Van Houten Press, making Cadbury the first British chocolate manufacturer to use this process. The marketing of Cadbury Cocoa Essence as ‘Absolutely Pure, Therefore Best’ helps sales increase dramatically.
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Now employing 200 people, the brothers choose a greenfield site in Bournville, four miles from the centre of Birmingham, for their new factory. -
Cadbury produces its first milk chocolate bar for eating, using leftover cocoa butter from its drink powder. However, the bar is dry and not sweet enough to be successful. -
Dairy Milk launched. Originally it’s sold in unwrapped blocks that could be broken down into penny bars. It becomes Cadbury’s biggest seller by the beginning of the First World War. -
Cadbury’s first logo commissioned. George Auriol, who also designed the signs for the Paris Metro, creates the logo.
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Bournville chocolate, named after the factory where it is made, is launched. -
Milk Tray is launched. Boxes of assorted chocolates were previously prohibitively expensive for the average consumer, but Milk Tray signals a new affordable range. -
Cadbury purchases Fry’s chocolate. A new site is found for Fry’s at Keynsham. It is named Somerdale. -
Flake is launched, after a Cadbury employee notices that when the excess from chocolate moulds is drained off, it falls in a stream and creates flaky, folded chocolate. -
Cadbury becomes an international company when it opens its first overseas factory, in Tasmania. Others soon follow in Canada, Dublin and South Africa. -
Opening of Rowheath Pavilion in Bournville. It is a hub for sporting and recreational activities.
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The Cadbury Foundation is set up, offering grants to the local community.
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Cadbury’s Somerdale factory opens
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Roses is launched. Roses were one of the most popular flowers in the Bournville gardens at the time, hence the name. -
‘Ration Chocolate’ is produced. During the war, rationing is enforced and the company produces chocolate made with dried skimmed milk powder. -
Wartime rationing comes to an end in the UK and full supplies of sugar and full cream milk are again available.
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Cadbury merges with Schweppes to create Cadbury Schweppes plc.
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Cadbury launches its first ‘Milk Tray Man’ adverts. The ads centre upon a man going through daring actions such as diving off cliffs and jumping out of helicopters to deliver a box of Milk Tray.
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Cadbury chocolate experiences a decade of unprecedented sales growth, partially due to hugely successful television advertising campaigns.
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Creme Egg is launched. Cadbury cream-filled eggs first appeared back in 1923, but the incarnation we know today doesn’t hit the shelves until almost 50 years later. -
Dominic Cadbury institutes the biggest Cadbury revolution since the 1920s. A £110m investment replaces ageing equipment with state-of-the-art production technology.
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Wispa is launched. The bar is discontinued in 2003 but relaunched for a limited period in 2007 and comes back into full production in October 2008. -
Cadbury Schweppes acquires French company Chocolat Poulain.
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Cadbury Schweppes sells its US candy operations to Hershey for $300m.
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Cadbury Schweppes acquires both Trebor Group and Bassett Foods. -
Cadbury World opens in Bournville. -
Cadbury Schweppes acquires businesses including Allan Candy (Canada), Jaret International (US), Hollywood chewing gum (France).
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Cadbury Schweppes acquires UK premium organic chocolate brand Green & Black’s. -
Cadbury Gorilla ad goes live. The ad shows a gorilla playing the drums to Phil Collins’ song In The Air Tonight. -
Cadbury and Schweppes de-merge. The confections business is called Cadbury plc. -
Cadbury plc is acquired by US-based Kraft Foods in an £11.5bn deal. Kraft promises to keep the Somerdale factory open.
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Somerdale factory closes. On 13 January the last bar comes off the production line and the factory is closed. In September, changes are made to the Takeover Code that strengthen the hand of target companies.
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£75m invested in manufacturing at Bournville. Four state-of-the-art factory lines are installed as part of a major investment plan. -
Cadbury launches new Dairy Milk bar with 30% less sugar following three years of development taking in 35 recipes and six rounds of consumer testing. -
Cadbury Dairy Milk packs switch to 30% recycled plastic, and Cadbury launches its first vegan chocolate bar, the Cadbury Plant Bar.
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Cadbury brings production of 125 million Dairy Milk bars back to Bournville from overseas. The company confirms the move will not create any new jobs.
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Cadbury stops production of 30% less sugar bar due to a drop in demand.