Chocolate Wars: From Cadbury to Kraft: 200 years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rivalry (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

'Chocolate Wars' has several interweaving strands: the history of one major confectioner - Cadbury; the broader story of the rivalries between different firms and the race to discover new and better ways of making cocoa and chocolate; fascinating 19th century social history and a good slice of Quaker history in to the bargain.

Eminently readable, Deborah Cadbury writes with the pace of a thriller - often leaving a chapter on a 'cliff-hanger' which will be resolved later in the account. The development of the chocolate industry could hardly be made more fascinating and enthralling. With rivalry and competition (the 'chocolate wars') between firms in Holland, the U.K., Switzerland and America this book also sweeps in the fascinating history of such companies as Hershey, Rowntree, Fry, Nestle, Lindt and Mars.

Two thirds of the book covers the period up to the outbreak of the First World War - and this is by far the most interesting period. There is a good exposition of Quaker business values and philanthopy and this, inevitably, covers the establishment of the Bourneville model village and Rowntree's subsequent building of a similar venture at New Earswick in York. The social history aspect is fascinating too and, as a former sales representative myself, I was intrigued by the story of Cadbury's 'travellers'. Initially they had just one man who covered the country from the midlands up to the north of Scotland by horse and on foot! Later in the 19th century they had export representatives who went as far afield as Austrailia on speculative (and successful) missions.

On the Quaker history front it was interesting to see that, while George Cadbury firmly opposed the Boer War, his outright Pacifist beliefs were challenged by the fierce German aggression that began the First World War. Two of his sons even went so far as to enlist to fight while another son, Laurence, took the more Quakerly course of joining the Friends' Ambulance Unit.

The last chapters of the book cover the story from the period of the Second World War up to the takeover of Cadbury by Kraft. The tragedy is that, if the monopolies and mergers commission had not blocked the merger of Cadbury and Rowntree, two historic British firms with a similar history and values would have been saved from hostile foreign multinational takeovers.

Above all, this book is a fascinating account of a slice of social and economic history. Quakers played a critical role in the development of British industry in the 19th century, bigger than I had imagined. They dominated the emerging chocolate industry, and many others. Not for them the "dog eat dog" philosophy promulgated by Adam Smith a century earlier. As the book says, "the idea that wealth creation was for personal gain only would have been offensive". They were there to serve the community. And to promote social reform. In effect, the Quakers created and ran what we would now call social enterprises. The author skillfully weaves together several stories of Quaker entrepreneurship, chronicling their many trials and setbacks as well as their successes. This book is for anyone interested in the emergence of the liberal ideas that lie at the foundation of our modern welfare state. Equally, the Quaker approach to business has implications for the conduct of companies today. All in all, an easy, enjoyable and illuminating read.

As soon as this book came out, I couldn't wait to read it. Having been to Cadbury World, I knew some of it's history, but wanted to learn about it in more detail.

It interweaves the main story about Cadbury (well, it is written by a Cadbury!) and the history of other chocolate manufacturers (Fry, Rowntree, Nestle, Mars etc). It was really well researched and everything flowed really well. Deborah Cadbury quite often leaves you on mini cliffhangers, which are resolved later in the story.

The book made me appreciate how long these companies have been going (over 180 years for Cadbury), which is not something I had considered before. I felt almost proud to have Cadbury as a British symbol, espeically with all the extra work they did outside of running a business. They were far ahead of their time socially, not only with their own staff, but the general public as well. Some of the things they did amazed me (I won't spoil it for anyone but you will understand what I mean if you have read it).

The final chapters focus on the Kraft takeover and they made me feel incredibly sad. It certainly made me realise that not everything you read in the papers is true. The one thing that really angered me was that RBS offered Kraft a loan of £630 million to buy Cadbury and they were 85% British taxpayer owned at the time! Quite ironic really.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it. It's a book that a lot of businesses could learn from.