page_title: Cadbury
section_title: 1800–1900: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Cadbury / History / 1800–1900: Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: Cadbury Factory, Bournville
context_page_description: Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company wholly owned by Mondelez International since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars. Cadbury is internationally headquartered in Uxbridge, west London, and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is known for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. One of the best-known British brands, in 2013 The Daily Telegraph named Cadbury among Britain's most successful exports.
  Cadbury was established in Birmingham, England in 1824, by John Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. Cadbury developed the business with his brother Benjamin, followed by his sons Richard and George. George developed the Bournville estate, a model village designed to give the company's workers improved living conditions. Dairy Milk chocolate, introduced in 1905, used a higher proportion of milk within the recipe compared with rival products. By 1914, the chocolate was the company's best-selling product.
context_section_description: In 1824, John Cadbury, a Quaker, began selling tea, coffee or drinking chocolate in Bull Street in Birmingham, England. From 1831 he moved into the production of a variety of cocoa and drinking chocolates, made in a factory in Bridge Street and sold mainly to the wealthy because of the high cost of production. In 1847, John Cadbury became a partner with his brother Benjamin and the company became known as "Cadbury Brothers". In 1847, Cadbury's competitor Fry's of Bristol produced the first chocolate bar (which would be mass-produced as Fry's Chocolate Cream in 1866). Cadbury introduced his brand of the chocolate bar in 1849, and that same year, Cadbury and Fry's chocolate bars were displayed publicly at a trade fair in Bingley Hall, Birmingham. The Cadbury brothers opened an office in London, and in 1854 they received the Royal Warrant as manufacturers of chocolate and cocoa to Queen Victoria. The company went into decline in the late 1850s.
  John Cadbury's sons Richard and George took over the business in 1861. At the time of the takeover, the business was in rapid decline: the number of employees had reduced from 20 to 11, and the company was losing money. By 1866, Cadbury was profitable again. The brothers had turned around the business by moving the focus from tea and coffee to chocolate, and by increasing the quality of their products.
  The firm's first major breakthrough occurred in 1866 when Richard and George introduced an improved cocoa into Britain. A new cocoa press developed in the Netherlands removed some of the unpalatable cocoa butter from the cocoa bean. The firm began exporting its products in the 1850s. In 1861, the company created Fancy Boxes — a decorated box of chocolates — and in 1868 they were sold in boxes in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day. Boxes of filled chocolates quickly became associated with the holiday.
  Manufacturing their first Easter egg in 1875, Cadbury created the modern chocolate Easter egg after developing a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded into smooth shapes. By 1893, Cadbury had 19 different varieties of chocolate Easter egg on sale.
  In 1878, the brothers decided to build new premises in countryside four miles from Birmingham. The move to the countryside was unprecedented in business. Better transport access for milk that was inward shipped by canal, and cocoa that was brought in by rail from London, Southampton and Liverpool docks was taken into consideration. With the development of the Birmingham West Suburban Railway along the path of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, they acquired the Bournbrook estate, comprising 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) of countryside 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the outskirts of Birmingham. Located next to the Stirchley Street railway station, which itself was opposite the canal, they renamed the estate Bournville and opened the Bournville factory the following year.
  In 1893, George Cadbury bought 120 acres (49 ha) of land close to the works and planned, at his own expense, a model village which would 'alleviate the evils of modern more cramped living conditions'. By 1900 the estate included 314 cottages and houses set on 330 acres (130 ha) of land. As the Cadbury family were Quakers there were no pubs in the estate.
  In 1897, following the lead of Swiss companies, Cadbury introduced its own line of milk chocolate bars. In 1899 Cadbury became a private limited company.
caption: Cadbury Factory, Bournville is located on the south side of Birmingham, England
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