Thinking wistfully of Flake bars, Creme Eggs, and squares of Dairy Milk bars, we took a look at the history of Cadbury’s chocolate empire.
The Irish and British communities in the US are still mourning the loss of authentic Cadbury's chocolate after it was banned in the US in 2014, following a lawsuit from American confectionery giant Hershey's but we just have to hope that we receive a nice care package in time.
Here are some of the top facts about Cadbury's Chocolate:
For the love of Dairy Milk
There are 350 million bars of Dairy Milk chocolate sold every year. That’s nearly a million a day!
Cadbury’s created the first heart-shaped chocolate box. Richard Cadbury, the son of the Founder, John Cadbury, came up with the idea for St. Valentine’s Day, in 1861.
1 million Crunchies
People love Crunchies! In fact so much so that Cadbury produces 1,200 Crunchies per minute… that’s 1 million Crunchies per day!
Owning a color
The chocolatiers once owned the color purple. Well, their own particular shade of purple (Pantone 2685c) was famously used on the Dairy Milk packaging.
Competitors Nestlé took them to court over it saying colors could not be protected as a trademark. However, they lost the four-year court battle. Eventually, Judge Colin Birss stated that the color had been synonymous with the Birmingham-based chocolate for more than 90 years. Sadly, in 2013, they finally lost the rights to the shade after Nestlé appealed the ruling.
Cadbury's was established in Birmingham in England in 1824, by John Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate.
In 1933, Cadbury built its first factory on Ossory Road, Dublin. When it first started production the factory only produced three products, including its world-famous Dairy Milk. Cadbury now has factories in Coolock, Dublin, and Rathmore, County Kerry.
Pioneers in milk chocolate
Cadbury's made some of the first milk chocolate in the world. In 1857, a Swiss manufacturer, Daniel Peter added milk to the recipe, and Dairy Milk was born! Cadbury’s milk chocolate finally hit the shelves in 1897.
Cadbury is a fairtrade product. They were certified back in 2008 and have increased the amount of fair trade cocoa sourced in West Africa.
Cadbury was the official cocoa and chocolate maker for Queen Victoria. John Cadbury and his brother were given the first Royal Warrant by Her Majesty in 1854.
World War II
During World War II, Cadbury's was forced to remove Dairy Milk from shelves, as the government banned manufacturers from using fresh milk. Cadbury's produced ration chocolate using dried skimmed milk chocolate.
Cadbury is the second largest sweet (candy) and chocolate company in the world. They employ 70,000 people in 50 countries.
*Originally published in January 2015, updated in June 2022.