Cadbury sent test chocolates to schoolchildren, and one of them was Roald Dahl
Between the two world wars, Cadbury mailed boxes of trial chocolates to British schoolchildren and asked for their verdicts. One of those young tasters was Roald Dahl, who would later write Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. By then the Quaker-founded firm had already given the world the chocolate Easter egg and the heart-shaped Valentine's box.
It began on 4 March 1824, when John Cadbury, a Quaker, opened a shop on Bull Street in Birmingham selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. He moved into making cocoa, and in 1842 began selling chocolate to eat, perhaps the first in Britain. Still, by the time his sons Richard and George took over in 1861 the business was failing, down from 20 staff to 11. They refocused on chocolate, raised quality and were profitable by 1866, helped by a Dutch press that squeezed out unpalatable cocoa butter.
Innovations followed. Decorated Fancy Boxes appeared in 1861 and heart-shaped boxes for Valentine's Day in 1868. In 1875 Cadbury made its first Easter egg, having developed a pure cocoa butter that could be moulded smoothly; by 1893 it sold 19 varieties. In 1905 George Cadbury Jr launched Dairy Milk, richer in milk than rivals and the first milk chocolate mass-produced by a British firm, wrapped in purple from the start. By 1914 it was the bestseller, and by 1936 it held 60 percent of the British milk chocolate market.
The Quaker ethos shaped more than chocolate. In 1879 the brothers moved production to a country site they renamed Bournville, and from 1893 George built a model village beside it at his own expense, with 314 homes by 1900 and, in keeping with Quaker principles, no pubs. During the First World War he turned two company buildings into hospitals.
Flake, the Creme Egg, Crunchie and Roses followed between 1920 and 1938. A 1969 merger with Schweppes ended the close family link, and in 1992 Sir Adrian Cadbury's report on corporate governance became a model for reform worldwide. Kraft Foods bought the company in 2010, and it is now part of Mondelez International.
Source: Cadbury
