As Cadbury’s turns 200, the company unveils its best-selling bar and it’s not dairy milk

IT is one of our best-loved brands, founded by the original Willy Wonka – John Cadbury in 1824, and worth a whopping £3 billion.

And to celebrate Cadbury’s 200th anniversary this week, the chocolate empire opened its doors to The Sun and invited Hayley Minn to be one of a few to tour the factory in Bournville, Birmingham.

Chocolate maker Cadbury’s is preparing to celebrate its 200th anniversaryCredit: Shutterstock

We were also among the first to see Cadbury’s new archives, filled with hundreds of discontinued chocolates and some very nostalgic packaging from years gone by.

As Cadbury celebrates its bicentenary, we reveal some of the rather sweet secrets from inside the brand, including the rather surprising bestsellers…

Dear sellers

Dairy milk is Cadbury's best-known product and has been around for 119 years — Dairy milk is Cadbury’s best-known product and has been around for 119 yearsCredit: Alamy

Launched in June 1905, DAIRY Milk remains Cadbury’s bestseller.

And the recipe, which includes a glass and a half of milk in every half pound of chocolate, hasn’t changed since.

However, it has been revealed that Dairy Milk Oreo, which hit shelves in 2012, is “not far behind” when it comes to variants of the much-loved brand.

Meanwhile, Twirl is Cadbury’s most popular bar.

Twirl bars have now become Cadbury's best-selling chocolates — Twirl bars have now become Cadbury’s best-selling chocolatesCredit: Alamy

Super tasters

THERE is a team of ‘supertasters’ in Reading, Berks, helping Cadbury inventors come up with their wonderful new creations.

The group consists of seven to eight people “with very strong taste buds” who have been carefully selected for the position.

They are trained to taste chocolate properly and provide high-quality feedback.

‘People are filling up trolleys’ – Tesco shoppers rush to snap up Cadbury bargains

Easter egg

THE hollow chocolate eggs we know and love are an absolute must at Easter – and Cadbury first launched them in 1875.

The original sweet treat came in a beautiful porcelain color shell and it was a simple, dark chocolate egg filled with sugar-coated chocolate drops.

Cadbury's knack for advertising dates back to their 200-year history — Cadbury’s knack for advertising dates back to their 200-year historyCredit: Alamy

CADBURY was responsible for some of the most memorable advertisements of all time – who could forget the gorilla drumming on Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight?

And promoting the brand has been a priority from day one.

Business archivist Sarah Foden says it was founder John Cadbury’s grocery store that pioneered plain windows so people could see inside.

And it was John who first came up with the idea of putting pictures on chocolate boxes to attract customers, by painting his daughter on a tin. Everyone else soon followed.

Cadbury was the first confectionery brand to advertise on TV with a commercial for Dairy Milk.

Satisfying

Cadbury's was the first company to give employees the day off at the same time as the banks — Cadbury’s was the first company to give employees the day off at the same time as the banksCredit: Getty

As if it wasn’t enough that Cadbury created some of the best chocolate in the world, the company has also made an invention public holidays . . . kind of.

In 1911, it became the first company to give employees the day off at the same time as the banks.

The bosses insisted there was no difference between factory workers and bankers.

This set the tone for other companies to follow suit.

Key facts

400 million cream eggs are produced each year, all sold between Boxing Day and April
Chocolate is pumped out of the factory 24 hours a day, 51 weeks a year
More than 250,000 chocolate buttons are produced per day

The rules

Properties around Cadbury's factory and offices are owned by the Bournville Village Trust — Properties around Cadbury’s factory and offices are owned by the Bournville Village TrustCredit: Alamy

MOST of the houses around Cadbury’s factory and offices are owned by the Bournville Village Trust, founded in 1900 by John Cadbury’s son George, with an emphasis on providing good quality homes in a green environment.

Even to this day, in order to maintain the appearance of Bournville’s chocolate box, there are a number of rules that homeowners must sign before purchasing.

Residents must agree not to have caravans, trailers or boats in their driveway and not to erect hedges, walls or fences without permission.

But the biggest surprise is that every house must have a fruit tree in the garden.

Royal seal

Cadbury's chocolate factory is located in Bournville, Birmingham — Cadbury’s chocolate factory is located in Bournville, BirminghamCredit: Alamy

SINCE 1855, Cadbury has held a Royal Warrant. It came after Queen Victoria gave John, and his brother and company partner Benjamin Cadbury, the role of its “manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate”.

Cadbury still holds this Royal Warrant from King Charles III.

No heirs

John Cadbury gave away all his money to charity, rather than passing it on to his familyCredit: Alamy

ALTHOUGH Cadbury is now a £3 billion empire owned by Mondelez, neither John nor his family saw any of it because he was a Quaker who didn’t believe in generational wealth.

He gave it his all moneyinstead to charities. The company has remained true to John’s philanthropic approach and the Cadbury Foundation has donated £15 million to charities over the past ten years.

Surprising success

Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvelous Creations Jelly Popping Candy Bar turned out to be a surprise hitCredit: Alamy

LIMITED edition products are often launched by Cadbury, but one product released in 2012 was so popular it stayed on the shelves.

Dairy Milk Marvelous Creations initially included cookie nut crunch, banana caramel crunch and jelly popping candies – but it’s only the last ingredients left over from the original recipe.

Dave Shepherd, deputy director of research and development at Cadbury, tells us: “No one could have imagined that this would have been the most successful flavour.”