Chocolate Wars: From Cadbury to Kraft: 200 years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rivalry [Paperback]

I borrowed this book from the library, simply because Cadbury's is part of my Birmingham childhood, and expecting to flip through the boring bits - there were none.I was spellbound from start to finish and often totally surprised by the bitter wars and the rubbish people consumed in order to "enjoy". the new taste. Of course living in the area did enhance it but I would recommend it to anyone you will not be disappointed - which is why several of my friends will be receiving it for their birthday and Christmas presents.What a disgrace after fighting so hard through the years it had to go to Kraft.

This book is an eye-opening read on the attempts by principled men, largely Quakers, to apply their religious convictions to their businesses for the benefit of their staff in a world when competition was hotting up and the demand for sweets was growing. It charts the difficulties manufacturers had in developing the products we take for granted today. How they had to discover by trial and error, the best way to treat the cocoa bean, whose name means, food of the gods, in order to tame it into products which were edible. It is very readable, and deals fairly with parts played by all the manufacturers, which have led to the current state of affairs in the world of chocolate. Definitely recommend.

I find it rather curious that the four founding families most associated with British chocolate history, Fry, Rowntree, Terry and Cadbury were each Quaker and unlike other businessmen of their era (the late 18th Century) their motivation was not expressly for profit. One other, who may have been Quaker and was solidly anti-slavery as were the Quakers, shared some of the business motivations of the four families and that was Josiah Wedgwood. They wanted to better the lives of their workers and they provided homes, schools for their children and helped the adults to become literate when few working people then had that ability. Cadbury's created the village of Bourneville for his workers. Wedgwood did similar. One of the Fry family, Elizabeth, denied access to the business, devoted her life to social reform as did others in the families.

It would make an interesting comparison to examine the owners of the wool and cotton mills and coal mines which were expanding at about the same time and to compare the lives of their workers to those of Cadbury, for example. I think that all would choose Cadbury were they able.

It is a sad fact that none of the families now have any involvement in the running of what was their family businesses. Fry and Terry were absorbed by Rowntree with whom there was some close family connections and the whole more recently absorbed into the Nestlé empire. Cadbury itself acquired a variety of other companies over the past 50 years alone, some of which were split off and since sold, but the remnants of Cadbury's business was rather recently and somewhat acrimoniously taken over by Krafft.

It was the fight to preserve the family business that prompted the authoring of this book. Debra Cadbury is rather obviously of the family and the book relates her personal efforts and those of the antagonists desirous of the business.

It is also very sad that Cadbury is a name much associated with Britain, similar in its way to those of Jaguar, Rolls Royce and several others but which all are now in the hands of foreign owners whether European, American and even Chinese or Indian. While some support the idea of globalisation, it is all too true that much of the British economy is dependant upon the foibles of some overseas entity and it is conceivable that whatever currently remains of some business or another could very suddenly be moved to another location if the move meant long-term production costs or offered other benefits to its owners. The cost to Britain could be devastating. Krafft has already closed several of Cadbury's factories and moved production to Eastern Europe or to one of its US plants although it had 'guaranteed' that no such moves would be made in the immediate future.

That is the fight that Debra Cadbury attempted to defend. It is unfortunate for British industry that she lost, but probably not that surprising! There are many examples where someone starts a business which passes to his son who may have some first-hand knowledge of the business and a sense of responsibility. Add a third, fourth or tenth generation and things go seriously awry. It is by then no longer a business that I may have started but a 'family business' and the personal attachment may be much weakened. I know of several descendants in that position who simply did not possess the attachment, will, desire or interest to continue. The business had become a burden that MUST be offloaded. The above are four examples, but think Selfridge's, Harrod's, Debenham's, Bourne & Hollingsworth or Whiteley's and Rolls Royce or Bentley - where are the founding families in those businesses? They are just a few examples that come immediately to mind.